RB Kishore
VP,AIRIEF,
ED(Retd),LIC
Life Member,Probus Club
044-2815 5810 & 098 4034 0591
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9 OCTOBER, 2015: NEWS in MEDIA
Vodafone gets a reprieve in Rs. 8,500-cr transfer pricing case
The Bombay High Court on Thursday gave a favourable ruling to Vodafone in the transfer pricing case related to the sale of the company's call-centre business to Hutchison and assignment of call options to Vodafone International.The tax dispute, which dates back to 2007-08, arose after the tax authorities added Rs. 8,500 crore to the taxable income of the call centre unit. It had initially received a tax claim of about Rs. 3,600 crore.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/vodafone-gets-a-reprieve-in-rs-8500cr-transfer-pricing-case/article7740178.ece
Vodafone welcomes decision
Vodafone, a leading telecom services provider, has repeatedly clashed with the authorities over taxes since it bought Hutchison's mobile business in 2007.Vodafone acquired the telecom business of Hutchison in India to enter the Indian market. And the British company is also fighting another case with the tax authorities relating to this transaction.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/vodafone-welcomes-decision/article7740347.ece
AAR chief rues lack of cooperation from I-T Dept
The Authority for Advance Rulings (AAR) Chairman Justice (retd) VS Sirpurkar on Thursday admitted to huge pendency of applications before the quasi judicial body while laying the blame for the situation to poor infrastructure and inadequate cooperation from the income tax department.Over 500 applications (spanning last three years) are pending before the AAR, Sirpurkar said at the 3{+r}{+d}Global Tax Summit, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/aar-chief-rues-lack-of-cooperation-from-it-dept/article7740217.ece
CBDT
CBDT chief puts corporates on notice, says 'era of avoidance' is over
Corporate India should turn away from 'tax avoidance' and pay their fair share of taxes in jurisdictions where the business activity actually takes place, a top Finance Ministry official said."The era of tax avoidance (I am not talking of evasion) in the garb of minimising taxes is over," CBDT Chairperson Anita Kapur said at the 3rd Global Tax Summit here on Thursday.People who are still bent upon organising their businesses in a manner that use all kinds of tools to avoid taxes are outliers in the system.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/cbdt-chief-puts-corporates-on-notice-says-era-of-avoidance-is-over/article7740216.ece
INTERNATIONAL
India, US to work on regulatory info exchange
India and the US will work on establishing a channel of communication between the regulatory bodies of the two countries.The aim is to minimise instances of sudden restrictions imposed on exports of agricultural products and pharmaceuticals.At the recent India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue in Washington, it was decided that the working group on standards — one of the six groups established to strengthen bilateral ties — will work on a mechanism for regular exchanges between the regulators of both sides.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/india-us-to-work-on-regulatory-info-exchange/article7740218.ece
Sushma heads to Maldives for joint commission meet
After a gap of 15 years, the India-Maldives Joint Commission will meet in Male on October 10 and 11, a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Maldives for the meeting and call on President Abdulla Yameen and also meet with other senior ministers, the spokesman added.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/sushma-heads-to-maldives-for-joint-commission-meet/article7740214.ece
India-Latin America need to deepen trade pacts
India and the Latin American countries need to work towards deepening their existing trade pacts to realise the full trade and investment potential that exist between the two regions, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia has said.New Delhi has preferential trading agreements with Chile and the Mercosur bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, but these cover just a handful of items.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/indialatin-america-need-to-deepen-trade-pacts/article7740211.ece
Danish firm Grundfos plans water dispensing system in India
Vending machines that dispense clean drinking water at the touch of a prepaid card — that is the new business model for entrepreneurs that Grundfos Lifelink A/S plans to support in India.This is part of a global initiative that has been field tested in Africa and is now being launched on a commercial scale in India.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/danish-firm-grundfos-plans-water-dispensing-system-in-india/article7740196.ece
German food firm Dr. Oetker India aims at Rs. 500 cr turnover
German packaged food company Dr. Oetker India, which acquired Fun Foods in 2008, aims to grow its turnover to Rs. 500 crore by 2020 by expanding the reach of its products, such as mayonnaise, Italian sauces, sandwich spreads and salad dressing.The company has adopted an umbrella brand strategy wherein Dr. Oetker is the parent brand, while FunFoods is the sub-brand.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/german-food-firm-dr-oetker-india-aims-at-rs-500-cr-turnover/article7740205.ece
EXPORTS
Trans-Pacific pact will not affect India's exports, says Ministry
India's exports will not be hit in a major way by the trans-Pacific partnership (TPP) pact signed between the 12 Pacific rim countries, including the US, as India has already entered into bilateral and regional trade pacts with some members of the grouping and a few more are in the pipeline, the Commerce Ministry has said.Had India joined the TPP, the negative fall-outs would have been greater, a Commerce Ministry official told BusinessLine . "The intellectual property rules under the pact would have led to ever-greening of several off-patent drugs and sent prices of essential drugs soaring while the investor-state dispute rules would have infringed on the country's policy space," the official said.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/transpacific-pact-will-not-affect-indias-exports-says-ministry/article7740212.ece
Rationalise taxes to boost exports, Commerce Ministry to FinMin
The Commerce Ministry has asked the Finance Ministry to rationalise taxes on exports and extend the interest subvention scheme to support the export industry, which has been witnessing a continuous fall in export demand through this calendar year.Speaking on the sidelines of a packaging industry event here, Rajni Ranjan Rashmi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said, "The relative fall in the export numbers is because of several reasons, one the global slowdown and also the fall in commodity prices. All this reflects in our numbers. However, the larger impact of the fall in export revenue has been curtailed because of lower costs on oil imports."
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/rationalise-taxes-to-boost-exports-commerce-ministry-to-finmin/article7740210.ece
MARKET
Is local money starting to provide a floor to the stock market?
In a market whose tone and tenor is dictated by foreign investors, the past few months have shown domestic players can fight back. Take September, for instance; through the month, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold net equities worth Rs. 6,475 crore through the stock exchanges, according to data with depositories. At the same time, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) went in the opposite direction, buying nearly twice as much, or net equities of Rs. 10,273 crore, data with the BSE show.The Sensex rose 1.7 per cent through September, but also touched a 15-month low at the start of the month. If this trend continues, Indian bourses could become agnostic to FII behaviour.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/is-local-money-starting-to-provide-a-floor-to-the-stock-market/article7740177.ece
BSE penalises 370 firms for not getting women on board
The BSE has fined 370 companies for not complying with the requirement of having at least one woman representative on their boards.This follows equities and commodities market regulator SEBI's order of April 8, which had specified the penalty structure for non-compliance with this requirement. The BSE had issued notices to 530 companies in July. The listed companies complying between April 1 and June 30 had to pay a fine of only Rs. 50,000. Those complying between July 1 and September 30 paid Rs. 50,000 and an additional Rs.1,000 a day till compliance.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-markets/bse-penalises-370-firms-for-not-getting-women-on-board/article7740193.ece
FMCG stocks tumble on looming fear of rural slowdown
On a day when the BSE Sensex was down 0.7 per cent, the BSE FMCG index ended down 1.04 per cent and was the biggest loser among sectoral indices. Share prices of companies such as ITC, Colgate Palmolive (India), Godrej Consumer Products, and Emami fell in the range of 1-2 per cent.This is partly due to fears of a rural demand slowdown coming true in the September quarter. Bajaj Corporation, first among the fast-moving consumer goods space to announce its September quarter results, witnessed single digit volume growth of 8.34 per cent year-on-year despite a lower base.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-markets/fmcg-stocks-tumble-on-looming-fear-of-rural-slowdown/article7740192.ece
AGRICULTURE
Food for thought
India's food procurement system could once again come up as a subject of discussion in the upcoming G20 meetings. The US has circulated a paper essentially directed at India and China, questioning input subsidies and minimum support prices for agriculture. The implicit argument here is that India and China cannot be exempted from the WTO's subsidy reduction requirements in the farm sector in view of their current economic status. While India's food subsidies — both product specific and non-product — are below the limit of 10 per cent of farm GDP described by the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, the fact is that they are far closer to it than, say, in the late 1990s.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/food-for-thought/article7740241.ece
Get ready to pay more for those imported apples
With the Centre restricting imports of apple by allowing its inbound shipment only through Nhava Sheva port in Maharashtra, consumers down South and in the eastern parts of the country will have to shell out more for those imported apples.Apples are the most heavily consumed imported fruit in India.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-agri-biz-and-commodity/get-ready-to-pay-more-for-those-imported-apples/article7740157.ece
Government may pay more to sugar cane farmers
The food ministry is working out a plan under which the government will pay a fixed amount to sugarcane farmers to be adjusted by mills against their payment obligation. As per an initial plan, the government proposes to pay farmers Rs 6.60 per quintal of sugarcane totaling an estimated Rs 1,800 crore, sources said. However, the PMO is believed to have asked the ministry to revise the plan as the subsidy amount seems high, the sources said.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/151009/business-latest/article/government-may-pay-more-sugar-cane-farmers
BUSINESS
Business made less easy in Indian States
Thirty two per cent is not even the pass percentage, let alone the distinction to qualify for any test. That's the average score for India in the 'Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms' released by the World Bank recently, for reforms at the State level. The highest score for any State is 71.14 per cent in the report which, despite several criticisms, is unique.Finalised as part of the 'Make in India' initiative, the 98-point action plan was the first in the methodology of the report; data was collected from each State.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/business-made-less-easy-in-indian-states/article7740243.ece
BANKING
Reserve Bank of India hopes banks will pass on rate cut benefit
The Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor H. R. Khan on Thursday expressed hope that banks would pass on the entire benefit of the cut in the key interest rate."Different banks are looking at different ways. I think (monetary) transmission will happen and it will happen over time," he said at National Financial Inclusion Conference.RBI slashed its benchmark short-term lending (repo) rate by 0.50 per cent in its fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review last week but banks have not passed on the rate cut benefit to customers.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/reserve-bank-of-india-hopes-banks-will-pass-on-rate-cut-benefit/article7740344.ece
Home loans: RBI encourages banks to seek more security
To encourage banks to seek more collateral for giving home loans, the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday prescribed lower risk weights where the borrower brings higher contribution. This is expected to free up capital for banks to give more loans.Bankers say this move comes at a time when interest rates are coming down and competition to push home loans is increasing. Further, borrowers could have a tendency to borrow more.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-money-banking/home-loans-rbi-encourages-banks-to-seek-more-security/article7740171.ece
INFRASTRUCTURE
Gadkari extends blame for road construction bubble to previous govt.
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday backed Road Secretary Vijay Chhibber's assertion that banks were wrong to give road developers loans without doing due diligence. However, Mr. Gadkari also extended the blame for this to the previous government."He (Chhibber) asked the right question. He said that the banks did not do their due diligence. That is right. But it is also the government of the time's fault. If land acquisition and environmental clearance was not yet done for the projects, why did the government give tenders for those projects in the first place," Mr. Gadkari said while speaking at a media interaction at the Indian Women's Press Corps.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/gadkari-extends-blame-for-road-construction-bubble-to-previous-govt/article7740335.ece
STATE
Telangana to take over unused lands
With Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announcing in the Legislative Assembly that the government was considering selling government lands to mobilise over Rs 8,000 crore needed to waive crop loan arrears of farmers at one go, the Telangana State Land Management Authority has swung into action to take over unutilised lands in Shaikpet mandal covering Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills.The panel headed by the chief secretary has recommended that the government take over the unutilised lands.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/151009/nation-current-affairs/article/telangana-take-over-unused-lands
Telangana Genco commisions unit-2 of Lower Jurala project
Telangana State Power Generation Corporation Limited has announced the commissioning of the 40 MW unit-2 of the Lower Jurala Hydro Electric Project, on the river Krishna.This is part of the 6x40 MW hydel project being implemented by TS Genco at Revulapally village, located in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana. With the commissioning, TS Genco is now in a position to supply additional power during peak hours and when water is available.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/tp-states/telangana-genco-commisions-unit2-of-lower-jurala-project/article7740232.ece
Hyderabad HC allows GMR to collect airport user fee
Passengers travelling out of GMR Hyderabad International Airport may have to shell out user development fee again with the High Court in Hyderabad ruling in favour of GMR Infrastructure Ltd.GMR Infrastructure received a favourable order from the High Court which has ruled that GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd can collect tariff as was being done in the past.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/hyderabad-hc-allows-gmr-to-collect-airport-user-fee/article7740208.ece
Andhra Pradesh to develop 4,800 MW wind power in 5 years
The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday outlined plans to encourage the setting up 4,800 MW of wind power capacity in the State over the next five years, with a potential investment of Rs. 30,000 crore.At a workshop held in Vijayawada on the opportunities for growth in wind energy, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturers Association (IWTMA), senior government officials and industry experts underlined the huge growth opportunities for developers, manufacturers and financial institutions in the sector.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/tp-states/andhra-pradesh-to-develop-4800-mw-wind-power-in-5-years/article7740231.ece
Textile sector seeks policy changes
Indian Texpreneurs' Federation (ITF) has sought a policy changes to make the mill sector more vibrant.In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ITF Secretary D Prabhu has sought the Centre's support to do business with ease.An industry insider, who did not want to be identified, said there was some disconnect between the TN textile sector and the Ministry of Textiles at the Centre.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/tp-states/textile-sector-seeks-policy-changes/article7740229.ece
Kerala plans to be healthcare hub in 5 years
In view of the spurt in the number of accredited hospitals in the State, Kerala is preparing itself to be a healthcare hub in five years' time.The objective is to create awareness and getting the stakeholders together to promote the State as a hub for medical tourism in the country by 2020, as the sector is expected to touch Rs. 400 crore by 2017, Harish Pillai, convenor of CII Healthcare panel, said quoting CII-McKinsey report.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/tp-states/kerala-plans-to-be-healthcare-hub-in-5-years/article7740258.ece
Warburg Pincus, Embassy venture to build warehouses, industry parks
Private equity major Warburg Pincus and Bengaluru-based realty player Embassy Group have committed $250 million to develop industrial and build warehouses in India.While Warburg Pincus will invest $175 million, Embassy Group will bring in the rest in the joint venture — Embassy Industrial Park.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-news/warburg-pincus-embassy-venture-to-build-warehouses-industry-parks/article7740195.ece
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