The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	IPO Bids Separate days for retail investors on cards New Delhi, July 25 In what could be a major overhaul of the way public offers are conducted, market regulator SEBI is mulling over a possible demarcation of days to be given to retail and institutional investors for submitting their bids. As part of efforts to attract more retail investors to the stock market, SEBI is considering a proposal wherein the institutional investors would be first asked to submit their bids, possibly in the first two days, and then the remaining two days would be open only for retail investors, provided the IPO is open for four days. The move is being considered because retail investors have been traditionally following the cues from the demand generated among the large institutional investors and put in their bids on the last day, but in the recent IPOs the institutional investors have also been seen waiting till the last moment. This has led to a large chunk of retail investors missing on the opportunity to invest in the IPOs where institutional investors have come in during the last hours, a senior official at a leading merchant bank said. The banker said such problems have been aggravated in the recent months as investors have not been able to reap any big returns and have in fact lost money in some IPOs, thus making them hesitant to put in their bids in the initial days. SEBI believes, the banker noted, that the response has been even more worrisome from retail investors and while most of the recent IPOs have managed to get handsome bids from institutional investors, that is not the case for small retail investors. The proposal of earmarking separate days — first few for institutional and last few for the retail investors - is currently being discussed by the SEBI's Primary Market Advisory Committee as part of its efforts to revive retail investors' interest in the public offers. Among other steps, the Committee is also considering making the IPOs a simpler investment process. Besides regulation and development of the primary market, this committee also advises SEBI on changes required to make the systems and procedures simpler and transparent. The primary market used to be retail investors' favourite investment avenue and an entry point for many of them till a few years ago, but their interest has been dwindling of late. This was reflected even in the recent offers from some public-sector firms, which have traditionally enjoyed a sound and safe investment image among public investors. Sources said the government has also been asking SEBI to revive public investors' interest in primary market. — PTI
	Tax Advice Rebate of Rs 1 lakh allowed u/s 80U by SC Vasudeva Q. I am a handicapped person having 80% physical disability. Kindly let me know the rebate under Section 80U for income tax purpose. Is the rebate covered for handicaped person under 80U or any other section? Please clarify. — Upkar Singh Bhalla A. In computing the total income of a resident Indian, who at any time during the previous year is certified by the medical authority as a person with disability, is entitled to a deduction under Section 80U of the Act. The deduction available has been increased to Rs 1 lakh from assessment year 2010-11 onwards, in case a person is having a severe disability i.e. 80% or more or one of the disabilities referred to in various sections dealing with the prescribed disability. You would thus be entitled to claim a deduction of Rs 1 lakh on your total income in case you satisfy the conditions laid down in Section 80U of the Act. Gift to father Q. I am a non-resident Indian at the moment whereas my father is living in India. I am having shares in joint name with my father which were purchased much before I left India. Now, I am interested to sell these shares but, unfortunately they cannot be sold until and unless I open a demat account for which I require PAN card and address proof. As both these things are not available with me, please advise what other method should I adopt to sell the shares without any hassles. Or Can I transfer the shares to my father, who is also the co-holder as part no. 2 and at a later date he can sell the shares individually. — G. Singh A. It would be advisable to gift the shares to your father. After the shares are transferred on the basis of such gift in the demat account of your father, he can sell such shares without any difficulty. Education cess Q. I am a retiree from Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd., Patiala (earlier PSEB). Please clarify the following: 1. Whether education cess @ 3% is applicable on income tax payable for current financial year 2010-11 (Assessment Year 2011-12) or not. 2. If the net income tax payable is more than Rs 10,000/- and advance tax is required to be deposited i.e. 30% each in September 2010 and December 2010 respectively and 40% balance in March, 2011. But in case same is not done due to unavoidable reasons, then what is the interest rate to be taken into consideration for deposit of delayed income tax . 3. Is it compulsory for every PAN card holder to file the return even his net taxable income is well below the unit for paying income tax? 4. Whether gratuity being paid to employee by Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. to the tune of Rs 10 lakh (recently raised from Rs 3.5 lakh as per 6th Pay Commission recommendations) is fully exempted as per Section 10(10) (iii) or not. 5. The advance/self-assessed income tax is being deposited tentatively during year as the banks/offices issue Form 16 for TDS only in April/1st week of May. So balance tax is finally deposited in April/May. Whether same is to be deposited with interest or otherwise. — Mohinder Pall A. (i) Education cess @ 3% is applicable on income tax payable for financial year 2010-11. (ii) Advance tax is payable in case the net amount of tax payable is Rs 10,000/- or more. In case it is not paid on due dates, interest is payable for deferment of the instalments @ one per cent per month under Section 234C of the Income-Tax Act 1961 (the Act). In case advance tax is not paid before 31st March of the financial year, interest is also payable under Section 234B of the Act @ one per cent per month from 1st April of the financial year to the date of determination of total income. (iii) It is not compulsory for every PAN card holder to file the tax return in case his total income does not exceed the maximum amount on which tax is not chargeable. It may be added that in case the total income of an assessee exceeds the maximum amount not chargeable to tax without giving effect to deduction under Chapter VI A (which Chapter includes section 80C) of the Act, he or she is required to file the tax return under proviso to Section 139 of the Act. (iv) The new exemption limit in respect of the amount of gratuity is applicable in case of an employee who retires on or after 24th May 2010. (v) It will be advisable to pay the self-assessment tax with interest chargeable under the provisions of the Act.
	Mobile user base zooms to 63.5 cr Tribune News Service New Delhi, July 25 According to the latest figures released by the telecom regulator TRAI, as many 17.9 million new users were added in June. This is about 10 per cent higher than 16.3 million added in May. The country’s total mobile user base zoomed to 635.51 million at the end of June. Bharti Airtel led the additions with three million new users in June, taking its total subscriber base to 136.6 million. Reliance Communications roped in 2.8 million new users followed by Vodafone Essar 2.7 million subscribers. The total subscriber base of Reliance Communications and Vodafone Essar now stands at 110.8 million and 109 million, respectively. Tata Teleservices added about 2.3 million users in the month, taking its total user base to 72.5 million while Idea Cellular’s user base increased to 68.8 million by adding 2.1 million new users in June. Aircel added 1.6 million new users in June while BSNL added about one million new users to take its user base to 72.6 million. Uninor, a new entrant in the telecom space added over one million new users in June taking its total subscriber base to six million.
	Barwala farmers to launch branded eggs Ruchika M. Khanna Tribune News Service Chandigarh, July 25 Realising the power of cooperation and with dreams of reaping rich dividends, four second generation poultry farmers in the Barwala poultry belt, near here, have decided to launch branded eggs. The four poultry farmers - Nitin Garg, Atul Mahajan, Rajiv Goyal and Vikas Bansal - are all set to launch three variants of branded eggs next month. They have indigenously developed a technology to produce three kinds of eggs - toddler egg (small in size but rich in protein), jumbo egg (bigger than normal egg, but with higher protein content), and double-decker egg (double the size of a normal egg and having twice as many nutrients). “These eggs will be rich in protein, containing less fat and will be picked fresh from bio-secured layer farms. Since the product is considered to be healthier, they will be costlier than the ordinary eggs. These will be sold in packets of six and cost between Rs 5 and 6 per piece,” they said. Talking to TNS here today, the foursome said the market for branded eggs is huge and there is a scope for small poultry farmers to reap benefits. Branded eggs currently account for about three per cent of the total eggs produced in the country. India is the fourth largest egg producer in the world, producing 48 billion eggs per annum. “So far, the branded egg market is dominated by poultry firms like Suguna and Keggsfarm. These companies retail their eggs between Rs 6 and 8 per piece. Small poultry farmers do not have the wherewithal to enter this segment. It thus occurred to us that we could work on the research and development jointly and then enter this segment,” said Vikas Bansal. Interestingly, this initiative will not be restricted to self-development. These farmers have decided to share their technique for preparing these branded eggs with other small poultry farmers. “Recently, we had launched a website called www.pappak.com, which caters to the poultry needs of small farmers. As of now, over 2,000 farmers are associated with this website, which gives live rates of egg, broiler, poultry feed, poultry health and disease updates, weather forecasts and latest trends about poultry management,” said Nitin Garg.
	Market Update All eyes on monetary policy review by Lalit Batra After an insipid start last week, the markets ended the week in green for the third straight week. This was on the back of decent first quarter earnings and strong macroeconomic scenario backed by revival in monsoon. The BSE Sensex rose 175 points to 18,130, its highest closing level since February 5, 2008. On the global front, encouraging economic data from the European markets, the US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke suggesting that there is a safety net in place and upbeat corporate earning boosted the investors’ confidence globally, lifting all the major indices. Marketmen will turn their eyes to the monetary policy announcements by the RBI on Tuesday. Though the marketmen are divided on the rate hike by the RBI, but given the high inflation rate, it seems that 25 basis points CRR and or repo rate hike may be in the offing. Investors are also keeping a close eye on monsoons which have been 12 per cent below normal from June 1 to July 22, 2010. The weather office expects this year’s monsoon to be at 102 per cent of the long-period average. Good rains would help raise farm output, boost rural incomes and lower food inflation. Swaraj Engines Backed by strong parentage, clean and strong balance sheet, substantial cash on its books and India’s focus on enhanced farm productivity (which lead to higher demand for tractors) make Swaraj Engines Ltd (SEL) a good long-term pick for investors around the current market price of Rs 443. SEL is engaged in the business of manufacturing diesel engines which it supplies to Swaraj division of tractors. It supplies various types of engines ranging from 20 HP to 50 HP. The balance revenues are earned by supplying high-tech engine components to Swaraj Mazda. SEL, after the takeover of Punjab Tractors by M&M, has seen a substantial ramp up in volumes. This is on the back of M&M using its own competencies and raw material sourcing efficiencies in the tractors business. Hence, clearly the benefits of strong M&M parentage have begun to yield results. This will keep the company in good stead in times to come. With India’s thrust on farm productivity, demand for tractor may see a rise, hence SEL is an indirect bet on the Indian agriculture sector. SEL also has cash equivalent to Rs 92 per share on its books, this cash may be used by the company for its capital expenditure programme for its future growth. This would ensure that the company need not tap the capital market for its future expansion programmes. Given the company’s past track record and robust expectations for future, investors may buy the stock with three to four years perspective.