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India seeks foothold in ASEAN
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Aviation Notes
Investor Guidance
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India seeks foothold in ASEAN
October 30 With an aim to play a more significant role in the growing economies of the region, India has been pushing its case for having a bilateral pact in services and investment at the earliest. Through this pact, India wants to get a foothold in all ASEAN countries for its growing pharmaceutical industry, besides allowing ease in visa regimes for its IT professionals, healthcare workers and teachers in Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand (ASEAN nations). With an agreement in place for free trade in services and investment, India can offer a bigger share of the pie to these countries in its infrastructure sector that is poised for a major growth. ASEAN and India signed the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement last year, and this came into force in January. The signing of the pact paved the way for the creation of the world’s largest FTAs (a market of almost 1.8 billion people with a combined GDP of $ 2.8 trillion). This agreement will see on over 4,000 product lines eliminated by 2016. Sources said during the summit, the Prime Minister also asked for a reduction in the negative list of goods that had been prepared since the signing of Trade in Goods Agreement. He also asked for an early completion of formalities for implementation of this agreement at an early date. Addressing the other leaders at the summit, which came out with a five-year ‘Plan of Action’ outlining a roadmap for enhanced multi-faceted cooperation, Manmohan Singh said: “India’s economy is expected to witness a sustained growth rate of 9-10 per cent in the coming years, which would offer many opportunities for trade and investment. Our experience of implementation shows that we need to work very hard at all levels if we have to accelerate the pace of engagement as outlined in the plan of action”. In his speech, Manmohan Singh talked about the need for increased connectivity, movement of people, collaboration in science and technology and education, besides security matters. “As a further measure to support the ASEAN Master Plan on Connectivity, India will offer 100 IT scholarships to each of the ASEAN countries over the next five years. Science and technology should be another focus area of India-ASEAN cooperation.,” he said. |
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Aviation Notes
Worldwide, the airport authorities stick to their decisions. They undertake trial runs for weeks and announce their schedule of flights only when they are 100 per cent certain of successful operations.
It is a completely different picture at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). MGR's Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), obsessed with profits, does not care for its reputation. It makes hasty assurances and then back-tracks causing concerns to the airlines and several other users, The domestic operations from Terminal-III has failed to start from October 30. The DIAL now says the postponement has been made so that passengers are “not subjected to any inconvenience”. Where was the need to announce schedule of flights without conducting trial-runs at the new terminal? According to DIAL officials, the operations will now start from November 14. The unforeseen problems at the IGIA persist. More than half-a-dozen flights had to be diverted as rain and thunder-storm hit the Capital recently. All three runways are now operational, but simultaneous use of main and new runway is causing problems. According to Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials , these are minor hindrances And optimum use of all three runways will be in order to operate flights smoothly. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has woken up that the name of the National Aviation Company of India Limited does not sit nicely on the merged entity of the Air India and Indian Airline. It has been allowed to revert to Air India and the Maharaja will return to be associated with the international airline. Air India was a popular brand name worldwide. The NACIL was cumbersome and could not gain even five per cent popularity or acceptance of the AI. Its decline began because of undue interference of the politicians. It needs to be given totally autonomy in day-to-day functioning. The return to an original name is the first major development for de-merger, The analysts are of the firm view that the amalgamation of the two national carriers has proved counter- productive. May be this is one of the major reasons for the government is actively thinking of bringing about ministerial changes. According to staff, senior and junior, de-merger will bring a cheer in the minds of majority of workers and, with the enormous government equity, there is every possibility of two carriers returning to their 'happy days' . The study reveals that the uncalled merger had caused enormous problems to the employees, particularly of the IA whose staff had to shuttle between Delhi and Mumbai. |
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Investor Guidance Q I am a US Citizen with a PIO card (applying for OCI). What are the rules on inheriting agricultural land in India? My parents own agricultural land in India and an apartment which they want to bequeath to us. — Bala Rapaka A NRIs or PIOs cannot purchase fresh agricultural land. However, there is no restriction on them inheriting agricultural land. Also, since India does not impose inheritance tax, the event of inheritance, per se, will not attract any tax. When such land is sold, capital gains tax will be payable. After paying the tax or making any tax saving investments if so desired, the net sale proceeds may be remitted abroad with a ceiling of the equivalent of $1 million per financial year. Sale of property
Q : I sold my interest in inherited immoveable property in February 2010 and the buyer applied TDS at the rate of 20% (about Rs 11 lakh) as required by the Income Tax Act. I am 78 years old naturalised US citizen. Do the provisions of DTAA between US and India provide any relief? If yes, please advise me as to the procedures I should take.
— Harish A: DTAAs are put in place to prevent the taxpayer from having to pay tax both at source as well as in the country of residence. In this case, the source country where the income has arisen is India. Since as per Indian tax laws, tax at the rate of 20% has been applied, you can claim credit for the same while filing the tax return in the US. You can reduce the tax paid in India from the US tax liability emanating from this transaction. For this purpose, it would be advisable to take advice regarding the paperwork and procedures involved from a tax attorney practicing in the US. The authors may be contacted at
wonderlandconsultants@yahoo.com |
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