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Yahoo may reject Microsoft offer
Ficci: Revised WTO drafts need improvement
New Hyderabad airport all set to take off
Jairam leads investment delegation to Lanka |
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Go Green Drive
Market Update
Tax Advice
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Yahoo may reject Microsoft offer
Silicon Valley, February 10 The world's biggest software maker Microsoft had made the unsolicited offer to pay $44.6 billion in cash and stock to buy Yahoo on February 1. It is pursuing Yahoo to take on the world's most popular search engine Google. The 'San Francisco Chronicle' quoting an unnamed source said the decision will be formally delivered in a letter to Microsoft on Monday. Yahoo's 10-member board, which met on Friday to discuss the week-old proposal, determined that the $31-per-share was too low, the source told the San Francisco Chronicle on condition of anonymity. Yahoo is also concerned about the risk of regulators blocking the deal because of the large market share the combined companies would have, the paper said. "To me, it seems like a rejection of the Microsoft offer at its current price, not a rejection of Microsoft," the daily quoted Sandeep Aggarwal, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co, as saying. Representatives for Yahoo and Microsoft declined to comment on the developments, it added. Microsoft has held out the possibility that it could undertake a hostile merger attempt if Yahoo's board rejected the offer, the daily has reported. But it might require Microsoft to unseat some of Yahoo's board members, the report noted. The Yahoo board is expected to meet again this week. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal has said that Yahoo thinks Microsoft is unlikely to go for a hostile bid. "Yahoo's board appears to be betting that Microsoft doesn't want to "go hostile" and try to acquire the company against the wishes of management and the board. Such a course could cause deep resentment among the rank-and-file engineers whose cooperation is crucial to the company's success," pointed out Wall Street Journal. The paper added that Yahoo has taken "poison pill" provisions to prevent an unwanted takeover. Microsoft would likely have to oust the board in order to overturn them. — PTI
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Ficci: Revised WTO drafts need improvement
New Delhi, February 10 Commenting on the latest draft on non-agricultural market access (NAMA), Ficci stated that the new text again failed to follow the Doha mandate of “less than full reciprocity” in tariff reduction. Like the draft of last July, the revised NAMA text retained the tariff reduction coefficient of 8-9 for developed members and 19-23 for developing countries. “This set of coefficients, if applied in tariff reduction formula, would result in relatively greater tariff cut for India and other developing members, compared with developed economies like the USA and EU,” Ficci secretary general Amit Mitra observed. This would be in complete disregard to the Doha mandate, which has categorically specified that the tariff reduction commitments would be comparatively lower for developing countries, added Mitra. Pointing out to another critical element in NAMA negotiations namely, flexibility for developing members, it said the revised draft has not indicated any numbers in this regard. From the perspectives of developing countries, it is necessary that the eventual NAMA outcome contain adequate flexibilities to take care of the developmental needs and imperatives of India. On the latest agriculture draft, the apex chamber said it could be a starting point for working out detailed modalities. Here the important issues are linkage between the reductions and disciplines related to domestic support, food security and market access.
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New Hyderabad airport all set to take off
Hyderabad, February 10 A Kingfisher Airlines A320 and a Boeing 747 of Jet Airways will land on the runway at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad, about 25 km from the city, marking the commencement of trial operations at the country’s most modern airport. Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy will receive the passengers on the tarmac, the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) said. The UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will formally inaugurate the Rs 2,470-crore airport on March 14. The full-fledged commercial operations will commence from the early hours of March 16. The airport will have several firsts to its credit. It will have the longest runway at 4.26 km. Singapore's Changi International Airport runway is currently the longest at 4 km. It will also have the tallest Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower in the country at 75 metres. It will be the first airport to introduce a city check-in facility and offer fuel on an open access basis. The GMR group holds a majority stake of 63 per cent in the project while Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad has 11 per cent, Airports Authority of India and Andhra Pradesh Governments have 13 per cent stake each. In the first phase, the airport can handle 12 million passengers and the capacity will be increased in phases to handle 40 million passengers a year. The airport can accommodate Airbus A-380 — the largest passenger aircraft in the world that can carry 853 passengers.
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Jairam leads investment delegation to Lanka
New Delhi, February 10 Senior representatives of a number of leading Indian textile, IT and infrastructure companies, including from Reliance, L&T, Mahindra and Mahindra, Aditya Birla Group, Indo-Rama, Vardhman, Arvind Mills, IOC, Quatrro, Virtusa and others are accompanying the minister for an interaction with Sri Lankan minister for investment promotion Navin Dissanayake and with the Sri Lankan Board of Investment. This would be the third Saarc country to be visited by Jairam, after Bangladesh and Maldives, in pursuit of closer economic engagement of India with her neighbours. Ramesh, who will be in Sri Lanka till February 13 is also expected to call on other Sri Lankan ministers to review the implementation of the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement that came into force in March 2000. He is also expected to discuss the current status of the India-Sri Lanka Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on which 11 rounds of negotiations have been held since February 2005. CEPA covers trade in goods, services and investment as well. Bilateral trade between India and Sri Lanka is regulated by India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement signed in December 1998 and operational with effect from March 2000. India has already completed its commitment of reducing its duty to zero in March 2005, except for 429 items appearing in the negative list. Sri Lanka would do the same by 2008.
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Go Green Drive
New Delhi, February 10 According to industry sources, the company is working on blended fuel, partial and complete hybrids, electric vehicles and hydrogen-powered vehicles, some of which could be commercially produced as early as 2011. — PTI
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Market Update Market continued to be southbound as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pressed sell button for the fourth week in succession. Volatility was high throughout the last week. Small-cap and mid-cap indices outperformed the Sensex. Depressed market conditions took their toll on the two big bang IPOs, Emaar MGF Land and Wockhardt hospitals. Both the IPOs were called off due to poor response from investors. The Sensex lost over 4 per cent to close the week at 17,464 and Nifty lost 196 points to settle at 5,120. Global factors continue to dominate the market sentiment locally as fears of US recession hit the global bourses last week. Going forward, the market is expected to see volatile swings as has been the trend in the recent past. Markets may slide further, on the fears of US recession, to test the lows seen in January this year. In the events to watch out for this week, Reliance Power will list today on bourses. The Reliance Power shares were being quoted at a premium of Rs 500 per share in the grey market when the issue was open for subscription due to buoyant equity market. However, as per the latest reports, it is now attracting premium of Rs 100-200 per share as equity markets. across the globe have declined in the past couple of weeks. In the near term, the expectations from union budget may dictate the trend on the bourses. Ranbaxy
Ranbaxy has continued to underperform the bourses in the past three years and we are now of the view that this year the stock may outperform the broad indices. The reason for this bullishness emerges from the fact that the announcements on de-merger of the new drug discovery research (NDDR) division, clarity on the Lipitor launch in Canada and other countries across the world and news flow on potential first to file (FTF) opportunities may act as positive triggers for the stock. De-merger
Ranbaxy has decided to de-merge its NDDR operations into a separate entity effective from January 1, 2008 and to list it subsequently. While the specific framework and other details of the de-merger are currently under finalisation and will be announced in February, the management has indicated that the company will save about $ 20-25 million of expenses which are incurred on NDDR projects annually from 2008 onwards. This will boost the overall profitability of the core business and also unlock value in the discovery R&D assets. FTF
Ranbaxy has already announced four exclusivity opportunities for every year until 2010 (generic Imitrex in CY 2008, generic Valtrex in 2009 and generic Lipitor and generic Flomax in 2010). Further, Ranbaxy has in its kitty 18 more Para IV filings with potential FTF status, representing a market size of about $ 27 billion. The company expects to monetise at least one FTF opportunity every year. We expect the news flow on Para IV challenges and associated exclusivity opportunities to continue. The management has guided towards a 18-20 per cent topline growth in dollar terms in 2008 and an expansion of operating profit margin to 17.5-18 per cent in 2008 from 15 per cent last year (2007), resulting in a net profit growth of 20-25 per cent in 2008. This guidance is excluding any revenues and profits from exclusivity opportunities in the USA. Additionally, the 2007 profits were substantially boosted due to forex translation gains and gains on forward covers ( Rs183 crore), which are unlikely to be repeated in Calendar year 2008. This implies that the profit growth would be derived largely out of the operations. We continue to be positive on Ranbaxy and feel that it is among the best placed companies to leverage the global generic opportunity with its extremely diversified business model and large product portfolio. |
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Tax Advice Q. I have a P.P.F. account in post office, which I opened in February 1992. It has completed 15 years in March 2007 and I got it extended for 5 years. Now I want to shift the account to a bank and get the entire amount transferred there. Please guide me how can I shift the P.P.F. account in a bank and get the amount transferred? — (Naresh Kumar, Ropar) A. In accordance with the Public Provident Fund Scheme, 1968, a subscriber may apply for transfer of his account from one accounts office to another. The term accounts office means any office or branch of the State Bank of India, any subsidiary bank of the State Bank of India and any other office authorised by the Centre to receive subscription under the scheme. It should, therefore, be possible for you to transfer your account from post office to any of the branch of the State Bank of India or its subsidiaries. The relevant form for such transfer will have to be obtained from the bank in which you would like your account to be shifted. PF rules
Q. I was asstt. manager (QC) in FCI and was posted at Jammu till
November 29, 1999. I was a subscriber for CPF. I joined my new job with Haryana government on November 30, 1999, where employees are entitled for GPF. In my CPF account no. 127018 the amount accumulated as under:
Cos’ contri bution (Rs)
Member's subscrip tion (Rs)
Total (Rs)
20661
44659
65320
I-Tax
962
1986
2948
Surcharge
19
40
59
Net
19680
42633
62313 1. Should I show this amount of Rs 62,313 in my annual income statement of this year, when I-Tax on this amount has already been deducted? 2. Am I liable for any other tax on account of this income for current financial year? — Ramphal Kataria, Narnaul A.
The query does not contain the full facts of the case with regard to: (a) Whether the P.F. is governed by a separate trust or the contributions are being deposited with P.F. commissioner? (b) If it is a separate trust, whether the P.F. trust is recognised under the provisions of the act? (c) Period of service put in by you. (d) In case there is a separate trust, the relevant rules regarding the payment of amount on the discontinuance of service by an employee. (e) The amount which has been received by you is after how many years of service having been put in? In absence of these facts it is not possible to reply to your queries. Income tax
Q. I am a senior citizen of 77 years of age and retired from Punjab Government service and eligible for tax free income from pension to the tune of 1,85,000. 2. I withdrew Rs 48,000 from my NSS account with GPO, Patiala and submitted 15-H, duly filled along with PAN on February 7, 2007. 3. I showed Rs 48,000 in my income in the income tax return for the year 2007-08. 4. I invested Rs 1,00,000 in the SBI mutual fund tax gain on February 19, 07, and attached its copy with return. 5. The tax to be paid by me came out to be Rs 7079 much more than that accrued from Rs 1 lakh invested in mutual fund by me. Naturally, I have not to pay any tax to the Income Tax Department. 6. Kindly advise, if what I have done is correct under the income tax rules. — Sohan Singh Jaswal, Patiala A.
The facts of the query are not complete as you have not given the figure of total income on which tax is required to be computed. In view thereof, it is not possible to ascertain whether the figure of tax computed by you at Rs 7,079 is correct. I may add that you are liable to pay tax on the amount withdrawn from National Saving Scheme account. The same will have to be added to your total income. Further, the deduction of Rs 1 lakh towards the acquisition of SBI mutual fund tax gain units would be allowable under Section 80C of the act in case the mutual fund is referred to in Section 10(23D) of the act. Tax liability
Q. I am a senior citizen (81 years) and my income for the financial year 2007-08 is expected to be as under: (i) Pension from bank: 1,20,000 (ii) Interest from bank deposit (S.B. & F.D.): 10,000 (iii) Sale proceeds of equity shares of Reliance Group - (originally) purchased in 1988 for Rs 2,000: 1,40,000 Please advise me on following: (i) How to calculate L.T. gain on above shares and also rate of I.T. rate on that gains. (ii) My overall tax liability in the current year 2007-08 in detail. (iii) In which income tax form I have to submit the return for that year. I did not submit return for last year (F.Y. 2006-07) as my income (only pension & interest) was less than Rs 1,85,000 for that year. — Darshan Singh Bhar, Patiala A.
The indexed cost of Reliance shares will have to be computed in the following manner: 2,000 x 551 = 6844.72 161 (161 being the cost inflation index for 1988-89 and 551 for 2007-08) The capital gain would thus be Rs 1,33,155 (Rs 1,40,000 Rs 6,845). The long-term capital gain would not be taxable in case the transaction has been effected through the stock exchange and subjected to the Securities Transaction Tax. In case the above conditions are not satisfied, the capital gain to the extent of Rs 68,155 (Rs 1,33,155 - Rs 65,000 (being the difference between the total income of Rs 1,30,000 and taxable limit of Rs 1,95,000 applicable to senior citizens) would be taxable at the rate of 10 per cent plus applicable education surcharge of 2+1 per cent. You will have to file the return of income in ITR -2 and indicate the exempt capital gain/taxable capital gain in the respective column. II
Q. Kindly work out my tax liability for the financial year 2007-08 (assessment year 2008-09) from the following particulars: (i) Annual pension: Rs 1,38,000 (ii) Interest income from FDs, etc: Rs 87,000 (iii) Contribution to PPF during 2007-08: Rs 70,000 In addition to above, I contribute Rs 1,000 towards U.T.I. Infrastructure Fund - Dividend Plan - Re-investment from August 2007 for a period of 12 months. Kindly advise whether dividend accrued on the fund is tax free or not. — P.D.S. Sharma, New Shimla A.
On the basis of figures given in your query, the total income in your case would work out at Rs 1,55,000 (Rs 1,38,000 plus Rs 87,000 minus Rs 70,000). In case you are a senior citizen, no tax would be payable because your income is below the taxable limit of Rs 1,95,000 applicable for assessment year 2008-09. In case you are not a senior citizen, the tax and education cess payable on Rs 1,55,000 would be Rs 5,150. The above computation is based on the presumption that subscription to UTI -Infrastructure Fund is not covered by Clause (xx) of Section 80C of the Income-Tax Act 1961 (the Act) and, therefore, the benefit of deduction in respect thereof is not available under the said section. The dividend income in respect of those mutual funds which have been specified under Clause 23D of Section 10 of the Act, is exempt from tax. This aspect may kindly be checked up with the reference to the subscription papers. |
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