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Farm waiver one-time policy: Pawar
Women’s Day Gift
Kuwaiti Co buys majority stake in Nova
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Investor Guidance
Aviation Notes
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Farm waiver one-time policy: Pawar
Beed, March 8 Addressing a farmers rally here in Central Maharashtra, he said, “The loan waiver is only a one-time measure. Otherwise, the banks as well as the government will go bankrupt”. At the same time, he said, considering the plight of farmers in drought prone areas in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region, who have more than five acres of land, government will consider relaxing the pre-condition to extend the sop to them. The government will consider a cut in the interest rate for those farmers who have been repaying bank loans regularly, Pawar said. Referring to the criticism by Opposition that the over Rs 60,000 crore loan waiver might not benefit Maharashtra much, Pawar said state’s farmers will get benefit to the extent of Rs 10,061 crore under the ambitious debt relief package. He took a dig at Shiv Sena, which had recently launched agitations for loan waiver, saying, “These are the Bandra- based farmers.” Bandra is a Mumbai suburb where Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray resides. Govt paying nation’s debts
to farmers: FM
Kundrakudi: Claiming that the Centre was only clearing the debts the nation owed to farmers by writing off loans to the tune of Rs 60,000 crore, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said he would soon explain in Parliament how funds for the purpose were to be mobilised. Inaugurating the 2,956th branch of Bank of India here, he said the government had taken this decision as it realised that farmers were over-burdened with the loans they availed of and that they might quit farming altogether. “By writing off farm debts, we have made their slate clean. They can start new accounts with banks and borrow money, not seeking loans from usurers at exorbitant rates of interest,” Chidambaram said. He also wondered why the Opposition, which was all along demanding waiver of farm loans, now wanted to know how the government would mobilise money for the purpose. The minister pointed out that farmers were mostly honest in their dealings and tried to repay debts, even if they pledged their jewels. For example, if they avail of a ten-year loan, they normally repay it in nine years. The one year for which they could not do so was invariably due to crop failure or some other reason, resulting in mounting debts, he said. “Farmers have been working for people from time immemorial, especially after 1947. We are all indebted to them,” he said. In an apparent launch of his campaign for Sivaganga seat for the coming polls, he sought to invoke the blessings of Lord Muruga, the presiding deity of Kundrakudi village.
— PTI |
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Women’s Day Gift
New York, March 8 “Nooyi, a Greenwich resident, was honored... at the biennial Peterson Business Award Dinner, which drew hundreds of business and community leaders. She is the sixth recipient of the award,” said a report published in the online edition of Connecticut-based newspaper The Advocate. According to the paper, Yale University President Richard Levin presented the award. Nooyi, a graduate of the Yale School of Management, serves on the university’s governing board, it added. “...Greenwich Library, which in 1992 received a $ 25 million bequest from Clementine Lockwood Peterson, prompting the library to establish the award in her family’s name,” the report said.
— PTI |
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Kuwaiti Co buys majority stake in Nova
Dubai, March 8 Through this purchase, NAS would hold majority ownership in the Indian company and would manage projects, currently handled by Nova, under the NAS banner, a company statement has said. Post acquisition, the company would be known as NAS India and would take on the NAS brand identity, it added. “This agreement opens new horizons for NAS and will allow us to expand geographically,” NAS Managing Director Bara’a Al-Roumi said, adding, “NAS has plans to further expand into the Indian subcontinent and subsequently into the Far East.” The share purchase agreement was signed by NAS Managing Director Bara’a Al-Roumi and Nova Aviation Services MD Sohan Mehta. As per the agreement, NAS would also provide ground support to airlines at the airports in Mumbai, Ahmedebad, Nagpur, Indore, Pune and Goa. It would also handle cargoes in some of these airports. “NAS will be investing a substantial amount of money in upgrading of the existing infrastructure at the airports that are being handled by Nova,” he added.
— PTI |
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Investor Guidance
Q. My HUF income/loss is as follows: A. Income from Futures & Options (F&O) is not treated as speculative any longer. Therefore, you may setoff the loss from F&O against your normal income, including short-term capital gains. However, if the short-term capital gains arise from sale of shares on a recognised stock exchange in India or from redemption of equity-based scheme of any mutual fund, it has to be taken as a separate block and charged to tax at the rate of 10 per cent. The benefit of the initial threshold is available for short-term gains. UTI mutual fund
Q. I had contributed for ULIP of UTI for 15 years. Now I have got capital gain proceeds of ULIP. As per capital gain calculation of UTI mutual fund, there is short-term capital gain of Rs 12,565 and long-term capital gain of Rs 37,361. On both these transactions, it appears STT has not been deducted by UTI. Further, due to recent market crash, as of now I have short-term capital loss of Rs 54,000 on which I have paid STT . Please clarify the following: A. UTI’s ULIP is a debt-based instrument and, therefore, long-term capital gains are taxed at the rate of 20 per cent flat and short-term capital gains are treated as your normal income and taxed at the rate applicable to you. Yes, you can setoff the short-term capital loss earned from other sources from your normal income. There is an exception. The short-term gains arising from sale or transfer of shares and units of equity-based MF schemes (on which STT is paid) attract special rate of 10 per cent and this loss is not available for such set off. It can be set off against any long-term capital gains and/or short term gains and balance, if any, can be carried forward for eight years for similar setoff. We presume that you have short-term loss from delivery-based transactions and not from trading. The trading loss would be treated as speculative loss (unless it is your business) which can be set off only against speculative gains. Sale of property
Q. I have a query regarding sale of property, tax on sale and repatriation of funds abroad. I am based in the UK since March 2007. I am an NRI from legal perspective. We had bought a house (jointly in my wife and my name) in April 2004 (at that point, we were Indian residents). We paid the money for the house through our own funds plus a loan from bank. Now, we want to sell the property and have the following questions: We expect to sell this for around Rs 70 lakh. How much tax will we need to pay? 2. Do the sale proceeds need to transfer to a NRO account only? Does the NRO account need to be in joint name of my wife and me (we both own the property jointly) 3. Can I repatriate the funds to the UK received through the sale of the property after paying off the loan etc? Please explain the limits and procedure in detail. A. 1. Yes, you may sell the property. You will be earning long-term capital gains since your holding period is over three years. Long-term capital gain (LTCG) is to be computed by deducting from the full value of the consideration LTCG is taken as a separate block and charged to tax at a flat rate of 20.6 per cent. 2. Yes, the sale proceeds have to be parked in an NRO account, preferably a joint one. 3. Master circular /0402006-07 dated July 1, 2006, makes it possible for an NRI or a PIO to remit as much as $1 million per calendar year for bona fide purposes out of the sale proceeds of assets held in NRO accounts. He should have acquired the assets in question, out of rupee resources when he was in India or by way of legacy/inheritance from a person who was a resident in India. Sale proceeds of immovable property are eligible for remittance The remittance can be effected only when it is sought for all bonafide purposes to the satisfaction of the AD. An undertaking by the remitter and certificate by a chartered accountant in the format prescribed by CBDT vide their circular 10/2002 dated October 9.2002 has to be produced. It is necessary to file Form-A2, a declaration by the individual and a certificate from an accountant, and undertaking for payment of income tax, in the specified format. A no-objection certificate from the Income Tax Department will be useful, but not necessary. The author may be contacted at
wonderlandconsultants@yahoo.com |
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Aviation Notes
The free flowing of licensing of airlines, Indian and foreign, an abnormal increase in flight operations on domestic and international routes and unprecedented traffic growth have caught the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) authorities napping.
The trend was known at least two years ago. But the authorities, causing miseries to the users, only woke up now. They are now thinking of throwing open the Haj terminal for general operations. Why was a terminal exclusively reserved for the Haj operations? Are non-profitable Haj flights more important than safeguarding the country’s reputation in the international skies? The passengers will have to grin and bear for at least another two years until initiation of the third integrated terminal in 2010 (Commonwealth Games). And by the time that is made fully operational, the terminal will be obsolete, as it happened when the existing terminal was officially inaugurated in 1986. This is plain truth whatever ambitious and greedy GMR or ministry may claim. The mess and chaos at the IGIA will persist and passengers will have to grapple with man-made problems because renovation and modernisation are merely ‘pleasing words’. Delhi International Airport is only indulging in public relations exercise without taking concrete measures to reduce passengers’ woes. It is not to be blamed wholly as it is being pushed, bothered and besieged by the Airports Authority of India, which has its own subtle agenda. The two leading outfits, one government and another private, are sadly on different wavelengths. The aviation analysts are of the view that the authorities should work on war footing at third terminal so that it can be operational in 2009 instead of March 2010. Why wait for the Games to start and finish? The new terminal will handle 33 million passengers annually. |
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New York, March 8
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