The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Micra to hit roads in July Tribune News Service New Delhi, March 6 Despite facing worldwide recalls, Nissan has big plans for India and has unveiled its latest offering for India at the Geneva Motor Show. The much-awaited Nissan small car, the all-new, fourth generation Micra which has been unveiled at Geneva, will be manufactured at Nissan's upcoming facility in Chennai. Sales of the new Micra will start in India in July. Developed and built on Nissan's all-new V-platform, which was developed under a comprehensive new production engineering process, the new Micra was designed and tested in Japan to be built in at least four overseas locations, and fine-tuned to meet the differing tastes and needs of customers in 160 countries worldwide. Breaking with traditions that focused on launching production in established markets like Europe and Japan, Nissan will base production of the new Micra at overseas manufacturing sites such as Thailand, India, Mexico and China. It is on course to create a whole new set of industry standards and is a cute little city car with well-rounded curves and a prominent waistline. Retaining its compact dimensions, the new car is slightly longer and marginally lower, while its longer wheelbase enables a “wheels-at-each-corner” stance, the main reason behind the Micra's roomier interior. The boomerang-shaped grooves on the roof have a clearly defined purpose too, continues Yamane. Aiming to create the same sense of exterior style inside the car, Nissan has employed a “connected cocoon” design featuring a dashboard design which takes on a “twin bubble” theme. This refers to the circular instrumentation binnacle and the similarly shaped glovebox compartment on the passenger side. In Europe, it will also offer an Intelligent Key, Nissan Connect, Nissan's accessible touch-screen combined audio and satellite navigation system, glass roof, automatic wipers, speed sensitive volume on the audio, a push-button start-stop system in addition to a drive computer which supplies drivers with real time fuel economy information, cruising range and outside temperature. On the security side, the car is also fitted with a speed-sensitive automatic door locking system. However, the car may have some different features when launched in India. These will be in conjunction with the Indian roads and standards.
	Aviation Notes Air show in populated area uncalled for by KR Wadhwaney Analysts are of the view that regardless of the Navy’s high standards, reliability and competence, the staging of acrobatics in civil aviation show and that too in a thickly populated locality was totally uncalled for. The blending of two organisations - the Navy and civil - has always posed problems as concept and doings of two outfits are totally divergent. The crash of the two-seater Navy aircraft took place in a house in which two pilots and a civilian died. The providence played a huge role. Luckily, the ground and the first floor of the building were unoccupied while the family on the second floor was out of the house. Had the houses been occupied, many more lives would have perished in the crash. Worldwide, acrobatics of this nature are staged at isolated places or over river or sea. But the Navy chose to sag demonstration around hub is beyond comprehension. Whatever may be the Navy’s fitness parameters, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Civil Aviation should have cautioned the Navy. DGCA chief N. Zaidi has gone on record saying that since naval aircraft was involved and his department had no role to play. The Navy has already instituted a probe in the mishap. But the truth is that too many accidents and incidents are taking place and this is a cause for anxiety. Whatever may be the findings of the probe, three lives have already perished. The analysts feel that acrobatics should not be inducted in a show like this. The armed forces have developed a very competent team to give demonstrations in acrobatics. But there is an urgent need to conduct safety audits before undertaking such exercises. One tragic incident causes a lot of negative publicity, which armed forces can ill-afford it.
	Investor Guidance Residential rentals exempt from service tax by AN Shanbhag Q: I have heard that the recent Budget contains a provision that seeks to apply service tax of 10 per cent on rental income. I have a property in Mumbai which I have given out on rent. I already pay income tax on the rental income. Does it mean that I will have to pay service tax on this too? — Shrijeet A: This service tax pertains only to rental income received from leasing commercial property. If you have rented your apartment in Mumbai for residential use, then no service tax is payable. Secondly, service tax on rentals of commercial premises is not a new provision, it is applicable from 2007 onwards. However, the letter of the law was open to interpretation and hence the matter was under litigation. Now, in the Budget, the government has sought to bring further clarity. But once again, for residential rentals, no service tax is payable. Changes in gift tax rules Q: What are the changes in the gift tax rules brought about by Budget 2010? — Kanwar A: Under the existing provisions of Section 56(2)(vii), any sum of money or any property in kind which is received without consideration or for inadequate consideration (in excess of Rs. 50,000) is taxable in the hands of the recipient. Of course, receipts from relatives or on the occasion of marriage or under a will are outside the scope of this provision. Nonetheless, this law is only applicable to an individual or an HUF. Therefore, transfer of shares of a company (in which the public are not substantially interested) to a firm or a company, instead of an individual or an HUF, without consideration or at an inadequate consideration escapes the tax net completely. In order to prevent the practice of transferring unlisted shares at prices much below their fair market value, it is proposed to amend Section 56 to include within its ambit transactions undertaken in shares of a company either for inadequate consideration or without consideration where the recipient is a firm or a company. Also, in several cases of immovable property transactions, there is a time gap between the booking of a property and the receipt of such property on registration, which results in a taxable differential. It is, therefore, proposed that Section 56 will only apply if the immovable property is received without any consideration and to remove the stipulation regarding transactions involving cases of inadequate consideration in respect of immovable property. Changes in TDS rules Q: What are the changes in TDS rules as per Budget? — Jobanputra A. The existing provisions of Section 40(a)(ia) of the Income-tax Act provide for the disallowance of expenditure like interest, commission, brokerage, professional fees, etc. if tax on such expenditure was not deducted, or after deduction was not paid during the previous year. It is proposed that no disallowance will be made if after deduction of tax during the previous year, the same has been paid on or before the due date of filing of return of income Note that this amendment is proposed to take effect retrospectively from April 1, 2010. Also there have been some relaxations in the threshold limit for application of TDS on incomes such as interest, commission, rent etc. Relief for NRIs Q: What is the extent of relief that NRIs can expect due to the increase in tax slabs announced in the recent Budget? — Manmohan A: The tax slabs have been relaxed as given in the following table. The proposed new rates are as follows: (The increased basic exemption limits for ladies and senior citizens are not available to NRIs since these are available only to Resident Indians.) The relaxations in the tax slabs will significantly lower the tax outgo on NRIs’ Indian income. The following table showcases the tax benefit for different income levels. The maximum benefit of Rs. 51,500 is for income levels of Rs. 8 lakh and above. The authors may be contacted at wonderlandconsultants@yahoo.com
	Industrialist GP Birla dead Kolkata, March 6 Noted industrialist and the second most eldest member of the Birla clan, GP Birla, passed away after a brief illness here late last night. GP Birla, 86, was younger to his cousin B K Birla, who is now 90. His father, the late B M Birla, was the founder of the GP-CK Birla group, which has interests in automobiles, bearings, earthmoving, power transmission equipment, cement, fan, IT and consumer durables among others. The group also set up renowned medical research centres and hospitals, besides educational institutions. With the group's turnover hovering around Rs 1,500 crore, G P Birla had passed on the businesses to his only son C K Birla. — PTI