The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Stricter steps to check fake currency New Delhi, January 3 To stem the circulation of fake Indian currency notes (FICN), the government is likely to introduce a slew of security features, including some in the notes itself. Official sources said one of the steps was increasing the production of currency paper, most of which is currently being imported. Though the security paper mill, Hoshangabad, produces the currency paper (228 MT in 2008), total production is low as compared to the need, they said, adding steps were being taken to increase production of the ingalio ink in the country. While both paper and ink is mostly imported, Central security agencies had raised concerns about this practice as the seized FICN had almost the similar feel and look as the original notes. Sources said the security features introduced in 2005 in the currency notes have been compromised, a case that the CBI is investigating. The RBI is in the process of introducing new foolproof security features in the notes, they added. The new measures will come in place after the Centre forms a high-level committee to monitor and draw a comprehensive strategy to combat fake currency notes. The government has also approved setting up of a special cell within the CBI to deal with crimes relating to FICN and has sanctioned 25 posts for the same. Central security agencies in their internal reports say the seized fake notes are just a portion of the total FICN in circulation. It is believed that fake currency is being printed in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and in some of the state-owned presses in Muner. The DRI had recently arrested a Pakistani woman, who had flown in from Dubai with FICN having a face value of Rs 18 lakh. The agency, which considers it a big catch, is questioning the woman to find out who all are involved in the racket. Wanted global terrorist Wood Ibrahim is one of the major operatives of the FICN racket, which is being supported by a neighbouring country's intelligence agency, sources said. While earlier, FICN was used to pay terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, it is now being pumped into the country to make a dent on the country's economy. Investigations have revealed that FICN is coming from Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Dubai and Kulalumpur (Malaysia). Sources said certain operatives in cities like Bangkok, too, have come under the scanner. On the diplomatic front, the government is taking up the issue of FICN with European countries, including Britain, which are exporting ink and currency paper to Pakistan, from where most of the counterfeits originate, they said. The CBI is also creating a national data bank of fake currencies, sources said, which they believe would help trace the origin of FICN and the areas in which it was circulated. — PTI
	Mobile Remittance Scheme Good news for Indians in UAE Dubai, January 3 Over 1.75 million Indian nationals living in the UAE will find it easier to send money home using their mobile phones, with the Emirates' leading telecom company set to enter the $10-billion remittance market with a new service. UAE's leading telecom services provider, Etisalat, has partnered with Citibank to start the programme in India and plans to expand it to Bangladesh, Pakistan and Egypt in the coming months, the group's chief marketing officer, Essa al Haddad, was quoted by the local media as saying. “We are making it available for our Indian customers to send money to their relatives in India," al Haddad said. The service, which will be available later this month, will work with all types of mobile phones. Etisalat, however, did not say how much it would cost. Media reports said the service could, however, threaten the hold of currency exchange houses on the $10 billion remittance business. At least $52 billion in remittances were sent to India in 2008 by expatriates working across the Gulf, according to World Bank data, with the UAE representing about 13 per cent of the total remittances to India. “With something like this it will be much easier to send money back to India," said 32-year-old Imthiaz Abbas, a showroom manager in Dubai Festival City. ‘Direct remittance on the mobile will be much faster than to come to a retail exchange store," he said. But Abbas remains concerned about the safety of sending money through his mobile device. “I want to make sure there's no security issue so I don't lose money along the way," he said. "I'm also curious to see how much Etisalat will charge. That could decide whether I use the service or not." Etisalat began mobile remittance trials to India and the Philippines last year with several banking partners before finalising a deal with Citibank. Etisalat's programme is the first mobile remittance service to be launched in India, giving the company an advantage on competition as it prepares to expand in the region. — PTI
	UK PM to talk to Tata for saving Teeside plant London, January 3 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised to talk to Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata as a last ditch effort to stop the Corus steel plants in Teeside from being shut down at the month end and thus save 1,700 jobs. Brown gave the assurance to three MPs — Ashok Kumar, Solicitor General Vera Baird and Dar Taylor - when they called on him at his home on the New Year's eve. Due to mounting losses last May Tata Steel Europe announced suspension of some of the facilities belonging to Corus’ Teeside Cast Products business in northeast England. Ashok Kumar, who had worked with the British Steel for 14 years, said many of his “constituents work at the Redcar plants in Teeside” and he was deeply attached to the threatened steel plants and employees whose jobs are at stake. Baird, who is MP for Redcar where the plant is situated, said Brown had agreed to work behind the scenes to try to revive a deal with an international consortium to take over the plant by offering government help. The collapse of the planned 10-year contract sparked the sudden announcement that the plant was to be mothballed, with Corus accusing the four firms of “walking away” from the deal. — PTI
	A First Maruti breaks 1-lakh barrier in Dec New Delhi, January 3 Country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki has become the first auto company in India to cross the one-lakh retail sales in a month milestone, clocking 1,00,874 units sales in December 2009. “This has been a big achievement for us, considering the fact that customers usually stay away from buying cars in year-end. In fact, we embarked on a mission to break this tendency and cross the one-lakh retail sales,” Maruti Suzuki executive officer Mayank Pareek aid. The previous highest ever retail sales achieved by the company was in October 2009 at 81,800 units. MSI has been able to push sales in December through aggressive marketing campaigns and sales promotion besides offering discounts ranging between Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000.“We adopted a strategy of three Cs - capture, contact and convert. We rigorously pushed to bring customers to showroom and keep in touch with them till they purchased and it worked,” Pareek said. — PTI
	Markets to open at 9 am from today Tribune News Service Mumbai, January 3 The stock markets will open from 9 am on Monday instead of 9.55 am. Trading on both the BSE and the NSE have been advanced from January 4, the exchanges said in media releases. Both exchanges had announced advancement in trade timings last month but chose to defer it till January 4 to enable brokers to adjust their infrastructure accordingly. Though several brokers demanded that the old timings continue, the exchanges have decided to disregard their views. Under the new SEBI rules, the two stock exchanges may allow trading from 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays.
	Market Update Sensex end 2009 on a high by Lalit Batra The market bid farewell to 2009 on a strong note, with the Sensex touching a new high for the year while the Nifty closed above the crucial level of 5,200. Firm Asian markets and positive start in European markets managed to offset the bad news on the inflation front. The Sensex rose 104 points to close the last week at 17,464 at nearly 20-month-high. The Nifty gained 22 points to close at 5,201 last week. Outlook for 2010 The markets have shown stellar performance in 2009 beating all expectations. In our view the current year would be more sedate and movement would be more stock-specific or sector-specific rather than broad based. Technical charts tell us that the Sensex needs to move past 18,300 to 18,500 range convincingly to move into a new bull orbit. Though the risk of testing the March-2009 lows seems rather remote, if the global gyrations (like the one in Dubai) come to fore, the market may just cave in. Overall we are still in bullish mode and we will stay with view till the Budget and review it as when some important news or event takes place. MIC Electronics MIC Electronics is a Hyderabad-based company that deals mainly around LED (light emitting diode) and LED-based products. The fact that it is into a niche and rapidly growing LED segment makes MIC a unique investment opportunity. The company has built up key capabilities over the years it has a very good quality management and unique business model. We had earlier recommended the stock in July last year when it was quoting at Rs 38, though the stock has gained close to 20 per cent since then in less than six months, we still believe it provides value to long term investors at the current market price. The risks involved are technology obsolescence and risks associated with operating in the niche segment.
	Tax Advice Commuted pension of LIC policy taxable by S.C. Vasudeva Q I had purchased LIC pension policy that is due on February 28, 2010. Whether the amount of commuted pension of this policy will be taxable? My wife had purchased 100 units of Master Growth-1993 of the UTI in 1993 for Rs 1000, which has been redeemed by her on June 26, 2009, and have received Rs 3,922. Does she have to pay long-term capital gain tax or not. — Pawan Kumar Singla A Commuted value of the LIC pension policy would be taxable in the year of receipt. The long-term capital gain in respect of the redemption of 100 units of Master Growth-1993 shall be taxable provided the income of your wife exceeds the maximum amount up to which tax is not payable by her. Revised pay scale Q I retired on January 31, 2008, and received Rs 3,50,000 as gratuity and Rs 2,62,340 as leave encashment for 300 days during assessment year 2008-09. Now due to pay revision, I have received additional amount of Rs 3,97,095 as gratuity and Rs 78,840 as leave encashment, Rs 96,968 basic pay and DA during the assessment year 2010-11. What will be my tax liability? I have no other income. — RS Saini A In such a case the amount of gratuity and leave encashment received by you would not be taxable. The basic pay and DA would, however, be taxable. Since you have no other income and the amount of basic pay and DA being less than the amount of maximum amount on which tax is not payable, there would be no tax liability in respect thereof. Joint account Q a) I am a pensioner and my wife is also retired but does not get pension. We are both senior citizens and have a joint account in post office under senior citizen and MIS schemes. b) The interests are deposited in our joint saving account. I divide the yearly interest in equal halves and show the same in our returns. Am I right? c) Similarly, we have an FD account. Its interest is added to our joint saving account in the same bank. According to the bank, for TDS purposes, interest paid by the bank (even on joint accounts) is supposed to be given to first-named investor. Should I equally divide the annual interest paid by the bank, as in case of post office interest? How to use Form 15H in case of a joint account? — Ram Murti A Your queries are replied hereunder: a) Your action in dividing the interest credited in the joint account maintained with the post office would be right in case the source of such deposit has originated equally from your wife and you. b) You should file a declaration with the bank that one half of the interest belongs to your wife in view of the source of deposit to such an extent emanating from her. The bank will deduct the tax accordingly and reflect this aspect in the return for tax deducted at source required to be filed with the department. This will enable the bank to issue a certificate separately for your wife and you. This procedure will enable you to claim the credit for tax deducted at source. The bank may be informed that new Rule 37BA of Income Tax Rules, 1962, provides for such a situation. c) In case Form 15H is filed by your wife and you with the post office and the bank, no tax should be deducted at source by them. Mediclaim policy Q I have been receiving Rs 15,000 as reimbursement of medical expenses from my employer. The above reimbursement is taxed provided we are not able to support the same with the bills. In case the supportive are duly submitted, no tax is levied. I have been advised by an insurance broker that I can also claim a deduction of Rs 15,000 in case I take a mediclaim policy and I will be entitled to a deduction from my total income of Rs 15,000 towards the payment of such premium. Is it possible to avail both deductions? — RK Bhalla A The deduction for the amount of mediclaim premia paid in accordance with the provisions of Section 80D of the Act is over and above the amount of reimbursement of medical expenses made to you by your employer. You would, thus, be entitled to claim the deduction of the premium paid towards your mediclaim insurance policy without any difficulty. Form 15H Q I am 68-years-old and have several special term deposits and term deposit receipts with the bank. Last year, the interest on my STD/TDRs accursed and paid to the extent of Rs 1,50,000 during financial year 2008-09 and TDS of Rs 11,348 was deducted during the said year. I also got pension of Rs 1,34,000 during the last financial year. I have 70% disability and get tax rebate of Rs 50,000. Besides, I am also repaying house loan instalments of Rs 30,000 every year at the rate of Rs 2,500 per month. I have filed my tax return and claimed refund of Rs 11,384, which has not been paid to me so far. I would like to know whether I can submit Form 15G or 15H to the bank to save tax deducted at source (TDS) and subsequently await for the refund of the TDS. — DC Goyal A You can file Form 15H to the bank for non-deduction of tax at source only if your estimated total income for a year for which Form 15H is being submitted does not exceed the maximum amount on which tax is not chargeable in case of a senior citizen. On the basis of the facts given in the query your total income for the assessment year 2010-11 seems to be less than the aforesaid amount after claiming deduction under Section 80U and 80C of the Act. Accordingly, it should be possible for you to file Form 15H so as to enable the bank not to deduct the tax at source in respect of your interest income.