| Professional
News |
| Misc. - Direct
Tax |
| Commerce ministry seeks SEZ tax
withdrawal, duty cut for sectors with high export
potential |
|
Delhi : The commerce
ministry will push for withdrawal of taxes on Special Economic
Zones and duty cut for sectors with high export potential as
part of a crisp five-point budgetary proposal it will make to
the finance ministry. Commerce secretary Rajeev Kher met with
various export promotion councils on Wednesday where he made
it clear that only a limited set of demands will be presented
to the finance ministry to boost exports.
|
| GST |
| FinMin working on new framework for
GST |
|
Delhi : In a renewed attempt
to introduce a national goods and services tax (GST), the
finance ministry is trying to address Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) -ruled states' concerns in the proposed legislation. It
has prepared a note on GST for Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
while Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is planning to meet state
finance ministers to remove hurdles in its
introduction.
|
| Misc. - Indirect
Tax |
| Commercial Taxes Dept sets Rs.
42,000-cr target in Karnataka |
|
Delhi : The Karnataka
Commercial Taxes Department has set a tax collection target of
Rs. 42,000 crore for 2014-15.Addressing presspersons on the
sidelines of a meeting with the members of Kanara Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in Mangalore on Wednesday, Ajay
Seth, Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Karnataka, said the
department is fairly on track in tax collection in the first
one-and-half months of the current financial year.
|
| SEBI |
| Funds in a bind as Sebi acts tough on
minimum capital |
|
Maharashtra : The Securities
and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has started cracking the
whip on mutual funds, whose net worth is below the required
levels. The capital market regulator has stopped clearing
applications for any new fund offers (NFOs) - both equity and
debt schemes - of such fund houses though they are required to
comply with the minimum capital requirements only by May
2017.
|
| Raise minimum public holding for PSUs
to 25%: Sebi to finmin |
|
Maharashtra : The Securities
and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is learnt to have written
to the finance ministry suggesting that the minimum public
shareholding for government-owned companies be raised from 10%
to 25%. It is reported that the ministry is considering the
proposal that also suggests a three-year time-frame for PSUs
to comply with this norm. Currently, there are 33 PSUs where
the government holding stands at more than 75%. The government
may end up raising more than R40,000 crore by the suggested
stake sale, considering the average trading price of these
companies over the last one year.
|
| RBI |
| RBI on inoperative foreign currency
accounts |
|
Maharashtra : In a bid to
manage unclaimed deposits, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
authorised banks to convert into rupee the credit balance in
any inoperative foreign currency denominated deposit.According
to RBI, if a foreign currency denominated deposit with a fixed
maturity date remains inoperative for a period of three years
from the date of maturity of the deposit, at the end of the
third year, the bank shall convert the balances lying in the
foreign currency denominated deposit into rupee keeping in
mind the exchange rate prevailing as on that date.
|
| FDI
Policy |
| Govt should not rescind FDI policy in
multi-brand retail: Srinivasan |
|
Delhi : Noted economist T N
Srinivasan has advised the newly elected government not to
rescind the current FDI policy of allowing foreign investment
in multi-brand retail."Not to allow FDI in multi-brand retail
is against the logic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
economic agenda," Srinivasan, who is a Professor Emeritus of
Economics at Yale University, USA, told PTI.
|
| Finance & Money
Markets |
| Nabard microfin arm in expansion mode
nationally |
|
Maharashtra : The National
Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) will scale
up the business of its microfinance arm Nabard Financial
Services (Nabfins) to become a national-level player.Nabfins,
a 68 per cent non-banking finance subsidiary of Nabard,
consolidated its operations in southern states such as Tamil
Nadu and Karnataka and expanded in Maharashtra in
2013-14.
|
| Bankers expect status quo on
rates |
|
Maharashtra : Bankers expect
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to maintain status quo on
rates at the monetary policy review on Tuesday as retail
inflation is yet to show signs of slowing down. The RBI has
been tracking consumer price inflation closely and, according
to the report of a committee headed by deputy governor Urjit
Patel, it is targeting to bring consumer price index (CPI)
inflation down to 8% by the end of January 2015 and 6% by
January 2016.
|
| Nabard seeks govt nod for Rs 5,000-cr
tax-free bond issue |
|
Maharashtra : The National
Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has sought
government approval for raising up to R5,000 crore through
tax-free bonds.“We have requested the government, that if it
is still keeping the tax-free bond window open, then we would
like to raise funds under Nabard Infrastructure Development
Assistance (NIDA),” said Harsh Kumar Bhanwala, chairman,
Nabard.
|
| Indian Bonds Drop as Yields Near
Four-Month Low Deter Investors |
|
Maharashtra : India’s
10-year bonds fell, reversing earlier gains, as a drop in
yields toward a four-month low prompted some investors to pare
positions. The yield on the 8.83 percent notes due November
2023 rose three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to
8.70 percent in Mumbai, prices from the RBI’s trading system
show. The rate dropped as low as 8.66 percent earlier,
approaching a January-low of 8.64 percent reached on May
23.
|
| Indian rupee snaps 3-day losing
streak on $ inflows |
|
Maharashtra : The rupee
snapped a three-day losing streak on Wednesday as dollar
inflows related to foreign funds and companies helped offset
heavy month-end demand for the greenback from oil and other
importers. Traders also cited occasional dollar buying by the
Reserve Bank of India, although the intervention was not
believed to be as aggressive as in recent weeks.Traders will
continue to focus on the measures the new government takes to
bring down the fiscal deficit and fight inflation.
|
| INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS |
| Nestle boosts skincare biz with
$1.4-bn Valeant deal |
|
Swiss food group Nestle stepped up its
drive into the fast-growing skincare market on Wednesday,
buying the rights to several treatments for facial lines and
wrinkles from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International for $1.4
billion in cash.The world’s biggest food group, with brands
including KitKat chocolate bars, Gerber baby food and Nescafe
coffee, signalled its ambitions in skincare in February by
taking over the Galderma dermatology venture it had with
L’Oreal.
|
| MERGER &
ACQUISITION - NATIONAL |
| VCs ride on e-commerce
mergers |
|
Maharashtra : Tiger Global
and Accel Partners are considered to be leading the pack of
private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investors
focusing on India's growing e-commerce space. Through the
recent Flipkart-Myntra merger, the two funds, which have
stakes in the merged entities, have ensured huge returns
before making an exit.A large chunk of PE/VC firms are set to
reap major returns through consolidations.
|
| Snapdeal plans to acquire up to 4
companies in FY15 |
|
Delhi : Just days after it
raised Rs 620 crore in funding, India's largest online
marketplace Snapdeal said it plans to make up to four
acquisitions this financial year, mostly in the mobile
technology and data analytics space. The company is currently
in talks to acquire a mobile technology venture, according to
Kunal Bahl, cofounder and chief executive of Snapdeal. "Based
on the pipeline we are seeing so far, it won't be unrealistic
for us to do three to four acquisitions this year.
|
| Notifications
& Circulars |
| CUSTOMS |
| Notification No.24 /2014-Customs
(ADD) (Delhi) 24/05/2014
|
| Seeks to levy definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of
Methylene Chloride, originating in or exported from the
European Union, United States of America and Korea RP for a
period of five years from the date of imposition of the
provisional anti-dumping duty, that is, 21st October,
2013 |
| ORDER (Delhi) 16/05/2014
|
| Appointment of Common Adjudicating Authority |
| Notification No. 21/2014-Customs
(ADD) (Delhi) 16/05/2014
|
| Seeks to extend the validity of notification No.
41/2009-Customs dated 29.04.2009 for a further period of one
year i.e. upto and inclusive of 28.04.2015. |
| Notification No. 22/2014-Customs
(ADD) (Delhi) 16/05/2014
|
| Seeks to levy definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of
persulphates, originating in or exported from Taiwan, Turkey
and USA for a period of five years. |
| Notification No. 23/2014-Customs
(ADD) (Delhi) 16/05/2014
|
| Seeks to levy provisional anti-dumping duty on imports of
phenol, originating in or exported from Chinese Taipei and USA
for a period of six months. |
| Notification No. 41/2014 - Customs
(N.T.) (Delhi) 15/05/2014
|
| Rate of exchange of conversion of each of the foreign
currency with effect from the 16th May, 2014 |
| Notification No.42/2014 - Customs
(N.T.) (Delhi) 15/05/2014
|
| Amends Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.), dated the
3rd August, 2001 |
| Notification No.39/2014 - Customs
(N.T.) (Delhi) 07/05/2014
|
| Amends Notification No.62/1994-Cus.(N.T.) dated
21.11.1994 |
| |
No comments