The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Gold touches all-time high Nears Rs 17K per 10 gm New Delhi, November 7 Gold prices today spiked to a new high of Rs 16,900 per 10 gram in the bullion market here on strong marriage season demand amid firm global trends. Gold gained Rs 75 to close at Rs 16,900 per 10 gram, a level never seen before. The precious metal in the US markets scaled a new high of $1,099 an ounce. Marketmen said fresh buying by stockists and jewellery fabricators to meet the demand during the marriage season and strong global cues led gold to touch an all-time high level. They said the precious metal, which has been on a record setting spree since last few trading sessions, also influenced by the Reserve Bank of India's move to buy 200 tonnes of gold from the IMF, raising speculation that more countries would follow suit. Standard gold and ornaments rose by Rs 75 each to Rs 16,900 and Rs 16,850 per 10 gram, respectively. Sovereign climbed to fresh peak of Rs 13,300 per piece of eight gram. Silver ready closed flat at Rs 27,500 per kg in restricted buying, while silver weekly-based delivery lost Rs 70 at Rs 27,185 per kg. Silver coins rose by Rs 200 to set a record high level of Rs 33,500 for buying and Rs 33,600 for selling of 100 pieces on hectic marriage season demand. — PTI
	Report: 75 pc engg students unemployable New Delhi, November 7 Discussing a report by software industry group National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) which says 75 per cent engineering students in India are unemployable, education experts here are of the view that the Indian higher education system must give skill building and practical training equal importance as academics to give them an edge. According to AD Sahasrabudhu, director of the College of Engineering, Pune, one of the major reasons why engineers, even from reputed institutes, are not easily employed because they lack hands-on skill. “The focus in most institutes here is always on academics and theory. Thus, a mechanical engineer may actually not know how to change a part of a machine. Therefore, even if a high scoring student gets placed in a good company, eventually that lack of practical knowledge catches up,” Sahasrabudhu said during a panel discussion at the sixth Higher Education Summit organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. “From our experience we now know that practical, hands-on training is very crucial in the education system,” he added. In their latest report released in October, Nasscom had said Indian IT firms reject 90 per cent of college graduates and 75 per cent of engineers who apply for jobs because they are not good enough to be trained. And because there is such a dearth of competent people, companies like Infosys increased its training of employees to 29 weeks from this year. That's seven months of training, the report added. Richard Kerly, a Scottish university professor, who had participated in the discussion said: “Just recently I came to know that Citi Bank had started its recruiting process here, but was not going to campuses placement cells. The possible reason is that students here, although brilliant, don't have an edge when it comes to putting theories to practice.” — IANS
	Aviation Notes Ground reality by K.R. Wadhwaney Once the only terminal building at the Delhi airport, Building 1B will soon be razed to the ground. Lying unutilised since May after operations began from Building 1D, the area will house parking bays and part of it will be utilised for general aviation. While it is laudable that general aviation will have its own building, analysts feel that private operations will lead to congestion. Indeed there are three runways, but problems galore as one of the runway is always closed for repairs. There are several impediments causing concerns to commanders, pilots and air traffic controllers The analysts are of the belief that general aviation operations from the Sufdarjung airport, which has ben lying unutilised for several years, will be ideal for all. They suggest that the authorities should utilise part of Building 1B for housing museum, as was the government's original plan. The tenders have already been floated and the work for demolition will start early next month. The new building will be ready sometime in 2012 after the conclusion of the Commonwealth Games. On the detailed paper submitted by the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), the National Aviation Company (Air India) is considering to ease out in phases quantum of foreign pilots who are provided much higher salaries and perks. These are financial burden. Leasing them out will not only be a huge financial support, but also provide jobs to the Indian pilots. The IPG, in a letter to all Air India committee of board, says: “The cost to the company of these foreigners has been phenomenally high as compared to Indian pilots, who enjoy seniority in service and experience”. The cost-cutting measures will save about Rs 453 crore annually. The Guild has also suggested several other measures for cost cutting. Despite these measures, the commanders and pilot have not been paid their dues. As the NAC has been incurring a loss of Rs 400 crore, there is a serious thinking in the corridors of the Civil Aviation Ministry that Air India and Indian Airlines may function as separate divisions of one company. The merger has failed and unrest in the staff has been growing. Senior commanders and some members of the IPG say: “We have no option except to resort to agitation if our salaries are not paid.”
	‘Growth may fall short of target’ Mumbai, November 7 India may not achieve its growth target of nine per cent during the 11th Five-Year Plan period as the economic slowdown and drought are likely to take their toll, a senior Planning Commission member said. “We set a growth target of 9-10 per cent for the 11th Plan. Though we began well in the first year (2007-08), the global meltdown impacted the growth rate in the second year (2008-09) and a drought this year will hamper it even more," Planning Commission Member Arun Maira told reporters here. The commission might revise the growth target by this year-end and is likely to conduct a mid-term appraisal of the 11th Plan. “Our economy is going through difficult period and the world economy will take a year more to recover from the global recession. The measures taken by the government during the past eight months are aimed at a stronger economic performance," he said. Global recession and drought were unforeseen events that disrupted growth momentum and the cyclic nature of many sectors.— PTI
	Banking reforms dominate G-20 talks London, November 7 Differences over exiting economic stimuli, reforming banking system and fighting climate change are threatening to derail efforts of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his G-20 counterparts as they met today in Scotland to pursue an agenda of sustainable economic growth. Host Britain, still in the grip of recession, is keen to continue global effort to support recovery. Others, including the US, Japan and Germany, want to debate ending the massive government spending, low interest rates and expansion of the money supply measures employed to boost growth. There are disagreements on banking reform, with Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty acknowledging on the eve of the meeting that there were “disparate views” on how to address the problem of banks being too big to fail. France is pressing for more actions to stop excessive bonuses in the banking sector. Addressing the Finance Ministers and central bankers from the 20 rich and developing nations, Britain's Chancellor of Exchequer Alistair Darling wanted them to agree on a financial package to help poorer nations develop green industries. The EU, which has agreed to a euro 100-billion annual package of public and private finance by 2020, is urging the US to lay out its position. — PTI Consider financial transactions tax, says Brown St Andrews: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on the G20 here on Saturday to consider a tax on financial transactions to make banks more accountable to society. Brown told G20 Finance Ministers meeting in Scotland that ‘a global financial transactions levy” would be one way “to reflect the global responsibilities of financial institutions to society”. Although the British premier warned of the need to avoid “prohibitive costs” on the banking sector, he added: “I do not think these difficulties should prevent us from considering with urgency the legitimate issues." — AFP
	Investor Guidance Inheritance won’t invite estate duty by A.N. Shanbhag Q I am a naturalised US citizen and will inherit a share of my father's property (his house) when it is sold in India. I understand that I will have to pay capital gains tax. I have been told that if I take my inheritance along with my three children, burden of the capital gains tax will be less. Is this true? If not, is there any other advantage in dividing the inheritance with my children? My siblings will also be receiving a similar inheritance. Can we pool our capital gains tax money to buy a house in India or should we buy individually? — V Bhakta A Your question is not very clear to us. Normally, the will of the deceased clearly specifies the person(s) to whom the asset is bequeathed. To that extent, the inheritor does not have any discretion in the matter. So we do not understand your mentioning the option of either inheriting it singly or with your children. In any case, note that India does not levy estate duty or inheritance tax. Therefore, the event of inheritance per se will not attract any tax liability. However, when you sell the inherited property capital gains tax will be payable. The cost of the property to calculate capital gains will be cost paid by the previous owner, in this case your father. If you were to inherit the share and subsequently sell the property, capital gains tax will be paid by you and if by any reason the inheritance and subsequent sale is by you and your children, the capital gains tax liability will be split between all of you. However, the total amount of outflow on account of tax for your family will remain the same. Capital gains tax may be saved by investing in another residential property. Pooling of capital gains funds to buy a single property is a grey area and approval of the same would depend upon the Income Tax officer’s discretion. The reason for this is that the law states that capital gains tax may be saved by investing in a property. Whether the article “a” means one property or can include share in part of a property is the bone of contention. Gift tax Q What are the recent changes with respect to gift tax? — R Rao A The Income Tax Act, 1961, has been amended with effect from October 1, 2009, to provide that any gift-in-kind, being an immovable property or any other property, the value of which exceeds Rs 50,000 will become taxable in the hands of the donee. Therefore, any such person who receives a gift of any such property on or after October 1, 2009, must pay the income tax due on the value of the gift and disclose the taxable value of such property in the return of income for assessment year 2010-11 and subsequent years. The following types of gifts will, however, not be subject to tax, i.e. gifts (a) from a person who is a relative; (b) on the occasion of marriage of the individual; (c) under a will or by way of inheritance; (d) in contemplation of death of the donor; (e) from any local authority as defined in the Explanation to Section 10(20) of the Act; (f) from any fund or trust established under Section 10(23C) of the Act; (g) from any trust or institution registered under Section 12AA of the Act. Earlier only cash gifts (and not gifts in kind) exceeding Rs 50,000 in the aggregate were subject to tax. Social security checks Q I have been living in the US for almost 30 years. 1 If I decide to move back to India, can I still get my social security checks when I am eligible for it? 2 To receive social security checks, do I have to be a US citizen? 3 Can I reside/settle somewhere other than the US, say Canada, as a US citizen or a Canadian citizen or in India as a US citizen after giving up the US citizenship and still be eligible for social security? 4 Would you advise to settle in India post retirement as a US citizen with an OCI card or as an Indian citizen, if I can reclaim Indian citizenship? — Shirish Malekar A Yes, you can continue to receive your social security checks in India. As per our understanding, you do not have to be a US citizen to receive social security payments. You may reside in certain other country too and yet receive your social security checks. It would be advisable to settle in India as a US citizen with an OCI card. IT return Q My son is living overseas for past three years and visits India for about 3-4 weeks in each year. 1) Can I file his return for income from bank interest in India? 2) Can he invest in PPF and claim deduction under Section 80C ? — Ratan A Assuming your son is employed abroad, his status will be that of NRI. If his Indian income is not above Rs 1.6 lakh, he need not file a return. However, if he so desires, in spite of having lower income he may voluntarily opt for filing. You may file on his behalf as his representative assessee. As an NRI, he may invest in PPF only if he had an already existing PPF account running before becoming NRI. In other words, he may continue to contribute to his already opened PPF account till its maturity. As an NRI he will not be allowed to extend this PPF account or open a fresh PPF account. Education loan Q My question is regarding interest paid on education loan of my son. My wife and me would like to pay interest amount separately into the education loan account of our son who is studying in the US. Can both of us independently claim the amount of interest actually paid by us during this financial year? The loan was taken jointly by my son and myself having furnished the necessary collateral security in the form of our house. — S Raju A Yes, both parents can claim the benefit separately to the extent the interest is paid by them individually. However, in your case, your wife appears not to have taken any loan and, therefore, she would not be in a position to claim the benefit. It can be claimed by you and by your son to the extent of your respective shares in the loan. The authors may be contacted at wonderlandconsultants@yahoo.com