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India plans fertiliser plant in Kuwait
Ray Ozzie may steer Microsoft post-Gates
Indian tourists being wooed globally
AVIATION NOTES
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INVESTOR GUIDANCE
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India plans fertiliser plant in Kuwait
Amritsar, June 17 Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister of Chemicals, Fertilisers, Pharmaceuticals and Steel and President Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), stated this here today after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple. Mr Paswan said India would set up a fertiliser plant in Kuwait, in collaboration with the Kuwaiti government. He said the decision was taken during the recent visit of the Kuwaiti King to the country. He said India had already set up a fertiliser plant in Oman, which had started the production and would produce 16.5 lakh tonnes of fertiliser per annum. Commenting on the rising prices of drugs, the minister said 354 essential and life-saving drugs would be brought under control so as to reduce costs. He said, at present, there were 74 drugs whose prices were fixed by the government. Mr Paswan, who is also the in charge of the steel industry, said the net profit in the steel sector was Rs 7,500 crore. He said the country was producing 42 million tonnes of steel, which would further increase to 65 million tonnes by 2011. Mr Paswan, accompanied with his wife and other family members, also visited Jallianwala Bagh and paid tributes to the martyrs who laid down their lives for the freedom of the country.
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Ray Ozzie may steer Microsoft post-Gates
Seattle, June 17 Step forward Ray Ozzie. This white-haired computer industry pioneer has a track record of invention and of entrepreneurship that more than passes muster; he also has that visionary thing. With hindsight, it seems that this week's announcement of Mr Gates's retirement is only one well choreographed step in a dance that began last year when Microsoft bought Mr Ozzie's software company, Groove Networks. Or, more accurately, bought Mr Ozzie. "We have wanted Mr Ozzie inside Microsoft for the past 20 years," Mr Gates said at that time. Now, we know how he got his man: he was on a promise of being groomed to take over from Mr Gates as Microsoft's chief software architect. The wizardry of Ozzie includes the Lotus notes e-mail software, which he conceived and developed at his first company, Iris Associates. More recently, he has been working on "groupware", software that enables people in different locations to work together. At 50, he is the same age as Bill Gates, and yet he seems to represent a new era. He has been charged with "webifying" everything at Microsoft, making sure a new generation of its Word and Excel office software and the Windows operating system are integrated more closely with the Internet. — IndependentIndian tourists being wooed globally
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Indian tourists being wooed globally
New Delhi, June 17 “With air travel becoming cheap and growing income of the urban middle class, the craze for foreign travel is on the rise. About 7 million Indians are expected to travel abroad this year, rising by 35 to 40 per cent,” says Manoj Gursahani, Chairman, Travel Mart India. “In some cases it is even cheaper to travel abroad as compared to in India. For instance, one can travel to Singapore for three days and four nights for just Rs 15,000; for Rs 40,000 to Europe, and Rs 35,000 to South Africa for up to six days. The packages include travel, stay, site seeing and meals as well.” In fact, the buoyancy in the IT and manufacturing sector has offered good pay packages to the young couples with salary of up to Rs 1 lakh a month. They are ready to spend it on exploring foreign destinations, besides other things. A nondescript destination like Egypt, which does not even have direct air flights from India, attracted over 55,000 Indian from abroad last year. The global travel industry is enthused that after Japanese and Chinese, Indians as tourists have also finally arrived. Over 20 countries have set up tourist promotion boards in India.
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Flight to London
Jet Airways would operate six flights a week providing direct connection between Amritsar and London. According to a spokesperson of the Airport Authority of India (AAI), the Rajasansi International Airport has already allotted a slot to Jet Airways. Jet Airways will operate Boeing 767 aircraft on this route. The flights will operate daily from June 28, except Tuesday.
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Country’s aviation image needs revamp
by K.R. Wadhwaney Ever since occupying wee bit of space in the Indian skies for the last year or about, SpiceJet has enjoyed a clean image. But, suddenly, it has been embroiled in controversy as its bosses have had dealings with slain Pramod Mahajan and his relatives. When Mahajan was ‘living and kicking’ all was honey in and around SpiceJet. Now honey has tuned into poison and the airline’s functioning and profitability are being questioned. Whatever may be SpiceJet’s background, the fact of the matter is that quite a few among private operators have not enjoyed clean image in the world of aviation and financial dealings. A majority of private operators owe sizable amount to the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Many of them are guilty of flouting rules which, according to them, are meant to be broken. The government is fully aware of their shoddy doings yet it hesitates to take action against them because they have deep-rooted political backing, regardless to which party is at the helm of affairs. It is, indeed, true that even commoners have started enjoying the fruits of flying on national and international sectors. But country’s reputation in international aviation is far from healthy. In Paris, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel went on record as saying that aviation expansion is a ‘must’. It is great to say that India does not merely mean Delhi and Mumbai. But all-round development will yield results only when functioning and transparency are blended meticulously. As transparency is a far cry in aviation sector, the progress has been far below expectations. Jet Airways bought Air Sahara more than five months ago. But the Jet Airways has not been given free hand to function. According to the latest reports, Air Sahara cannot be merged into Jet Airways. Why? Its Jet’s property and should be allowed to run, the way it wants. In view of unexpected road-blocks, Jet Airways will run Air Sahara as a separate subsidiary with different name, identity and brand. Amidst this hazy situation, the four Jet officials have been cleared to join the Air Sahara Board but Jet’s supremo Naresh Goyal has been left to ‘wait for a while’. Goyal, according to aviation analysts, is a smart operator and will have his way. He is one official who translates difficult terrains into successful gateways. Mr Praful Patel may have erred in his endeavour to merge two national carriers, but his decision to revamp non-metro airports is a laudable move. India needs many world-class airports.
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Medical reimbursement not taxable
by A.N. Shanbhag Q: I am working as a senior resident in the surgery department of Government Medical College, Amritsar. My wife was suffering from breast cancer. She received treatment for the same from Government Medical College, Amritsar and DMC Ludhiana. I spent about Rs 5,01,650. Now I am in receipt of Rs 5,01,650 from my department as re-imbursement of medical expenses. My DDO says that he will deduct income tax. But I feel it is not taxable under provision to Section 17 sub clause (i) (ii). Please clarify whether medical reimbursement paid to me by my department is taxable or not. — Dr Ashwani Kumar A: Under Section 17-1. the value of any medical treatment provided to an employee or any member of his family in any hospital maintained by the employer and 2. Any sum paid by the employer in respect of any expenditure actually incurred by the employee on his medical treatment or treatment of any member of his family- (a) in any hospital maintained by the government or any local authority or any other hospital approved by the government for the purposes of medical treatment of its employees; (b ) in respect of the prescribed diseases or ailments, in any hospital approved by the Chief Commissioner having regard to the prescribed guidelines. The employee shall attach with his return of income a certificate from the hospital specifying the disease or ailment for which medical treatment was required and the receipt for the amount paid to the hospital, are not to be treated as perks. Moreover, item-13 of CBDT Circular 9/2005 dt 30.11.05 guiding DDOs on how to apply TDS states that such expenses incurred or reimbursed by the employer are exempt from tax. The only reason why your DDO is levying TDS on this amount is because either he is making an error or the hospital does not pass the test laid down in the Sec. 17. In any case, you can certainly claim the refund while filing your tax returns. Capital gain bonds
Q: I am a retired senior citizen. 1. In one of your columns you addressed the situation of non-availability of capital gains bonds of NHAI and REC. I sold a small portion of my flat (75 sq. ft), for which the agreement was signed in January 2006. The six-month period expires in the first week of July 2006. I hope that you will keep citizens like me informed on the latest status for these bonds and/or any relaxation in the six-month period if the bonds do not come out in time. 2. I also read an article that the revenue authorities have informed post offices to cut TDS on MIS and SCSS accounts. This is fine, however, the snag is that the instruction indicate that it becomes effective from August 2004. As a law-abiding citizen, I have paid my taxes on both my MIS and SCSS accounts for the years August 2004 to March 2005 and April 2005 to March 2006. If TDS is cut for the lapsed period at this stage, would it not amount to double taxation for that period? 3. Also, in case the TDS is cut in such a case, can a refund be sought? — C. Desai A: The authorities appear to be least bothered about the inconvenience caused to the taxpayers in all the situations mentioned above. 1. The investment in the infrastructure capital gains bonds are required to be made within six months from the date of earning the capital gains. The non-availability of the bonds have caused a financial loss to those assessees for whom this period of six months has lapsed. All that was required was a notification issued by the authorities in good time. I am given to understand that the much awaited notification is slated to be issued in a day or two. 2. The TDS on SCSS is yet another instance of rampant injustice inflicted by the authorities on the hapless senior citizen. Many of them have opted for the scheme because the hassle of handling TDS was not existing. Now, suddenly they find that they are subjected to TDS and that to with retrospective effect! Then again, only those who are 65 years or over in age on the last date of the related financial year can file Form-15H for non-application of TDS. Form-15G is meant for others whose income is below taxable level but it is not available for SCSS! 3. Yes, you can claim the refund by filing the returns. But what about those who have never filed the returns? They will have to obtain a PAN, fill the Saral form which has now become complex, only to get the refund. I wonder how many of them have the wherewithal to undertake such an exercise. Here, I would like to quote Mr. Nani Palkhiwala - “No government has the right, in the process of extracting tax, to cause misery and harassment to the taxpayer and the gnawing feeling that he is made a victim of palpable injustice.” ELSS fund
Q: I have invested in ELSS fund - Growth option last year. As per my understanding, these schemes have lock-in period of 3 years. But, recently I read in one newspaper that if one goes for growth option other than dividend payout, one can not exit scheme even after 3 years as dividend invested is treated as investment and there is vicious cycle goes on. Can you please clarify the difference between two options. — Nandan Guha A: The difficulty expressed by you is only in respect of dividend-reinvestment option and not for growth or dividend payout. Tax on capital gain
Q: I am a retired government employee aged 69 years. My annual income from pension, interest on deposits in bank and post office is Rs 1.7 lakh. Contribution to LIC premium is Rs 36,000. I have a self-occupied house at Chandigarh, which is incomplete in respect of Ist floor and IIst floor. I have sold my share of ancestral residential house at Moga for Rs 7.5 lakh on 2.5.06. It’s market value as on 1.4.1981 has been assessed as Rs 1.26 lakh. I request you to clarify the following points : - 1. How much LTCG (Long-term Capital Gains) is worked out? 2. How much tax is due on this amount? 3. Whether this tax can be exempted, if I use this amount on the construction of I & II store of my house at Chandigarh? 4. How much time period will be allowed for the construction? 5. Whether any detailed accounts are to be maintained for the construction? — R. L. Sharma A: 1. The Cost Inflation Index for FY 06-07 has not been declared as yet and, therefore, unable to compute the LTCG. 2. The tax on LTCG is 20 pc. 3. Exemption is available only on construction of a house and not on extension of a house. If you can get the additions to your house as separate flats from the municipal department, you can claim the exemption. 4. Three years. The amount of capital gains which is not invested before the filing of returns for the year is required to be parked in ‘Capital Gains Account Scheme’ with a bank in India. 5. Yes. details are required for claiming the exemption. The authors may be contacted at wonderlandconsultants@yahoo.com |
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Seattle, June 17
