The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

India, Canada start FTA talks

Toronto, November 13
India will join China in filling up Canadian stores with cheaper goods once New Delhi and Ottawa sign a free trade agreement to do away with many taxes and duties. The prime ministers of the two countries announced the start of talks for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Seoul.

The two countries aim to push trade more than three-fold from the current $4.2 billion in the next five years

The agreement should be a boon for business owners, who could open India-based offices

The two countries aim to push trade more than three-fold from the current $4.2 billion in the next five years. Canadian exports to India include machinery, fertilizers, wood pulp and vegetables, Indian exports comprise garments, metals, precious stones and jewellery, and electrical equipment.

Welcoming the decision, the Toronto Star said, “While it may take many months before the details are worked out, when it does happen Canadians can expect to see more Indian-produced products on store shelves, and perhaps cheaper prices for items already imported from the Asian country. The agreement should be a boon for business owners, who could open India-based offices, or simply target consumers in the country.”

A free trade agreement is expected to add about $6 billion each to the economies of the two countries. But more than anything, Canadian banks and insurance companies will benefit immensely from a free trade pact with one of the fastest growing economies in the world, as they want access to the south Asian market.

After the global meltdown triggered by the US which is Canada's main buyer, Ottawa is trying to lessen dependence on its big neighbour by signing free trade agreements with many other nations. Economics experts here have described the talks with India as an ‘important development’ for Canada. Scotching fears that a free trade agreement will lead to more outsourcing of jobs to India, these analysts say this loss, if any, will be more than offset by Indian companies opening offices in Canada and creating jobs. — IANS

Punjab, Haryana rice contribution to central pool will dip
Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 13
The availability of rice from Punjab and Haryana to the Central pool will be much less this year, because of havoc wrecked by floods in the two states in July. The contribution from the two states is expected to go down by over six lakh tonnes during this marketing season.

Siraj Hussain, chairman, Food Corporation of India (FCI), said: “Because of the floods this year, expect the procurement of rice from Punjab would be around 87 lakh tonnes this year, as compared to 94.28 lakh tonnes last year. Similarly in case of Haryana, we are expecting that the procurement will be 17 lakh tonnes as compared to 18.30 lakh tonnes last year,” he said.

The chairman was in town to meet officials of the food and supplies department and from the Punjab and Haryana regional offices of FCI, in order to assess the procurement process of paddy. He expressed satisfaction with the arrangements. FCI is expected to procure 32 million tonnes of rice this year, more than last years’ procurement of 31 million tonnes. Hussain said that though the procurement from the food bowl (Punjab and Haryana) would be less, the crop was good in other parts of the country.

On increasing the food grain storage capacity in the two states, he said while Punjab had been granted sanction to add 51 lakh tonnes of storage space, a storage capacity expansion of 38 lakh tonnes had been granted to Haryana.

Marriot to set up 100 hotels in 5 years
Ruchika M Khanna/TNS

Chandigarh, November 13
Betting big on the economic boom in India and the growing tribe of business travellers, Marriot International plans to set up 100 hotels across India in five years. These hotels will be in various categories- for the premium luxury brand, Ritz Carlton, J W Marriot, Marriot, Renaissance, Courtyards and the recently launched three-star vertical, Fairfields. Speaking exclusively to TNS, during a visit to the city today, Arne M Sorenson, president and COO, Marriot International, said that of the 100 properties proposed, at least 35 are already under construction and will be commissioned over the next three years. The hospitality chain already has 12 properties in India, which includes the Marriot hotel launched at Pune earlier this year.

“The JW Marriot at Chandigarh, Marriot at Jaipur and Courtyard at Pune will be open by mid-2011, while the J W Marriots at Bangalore and Chennai, and a Courtyard at Bhopal will be operational by the end of next year. Most of these hotels will be opened in suburban areas and in tier-II and tier-III towns. We are also looking at the opening of a Ritz Carlton at Bangalore next year,” he said. Marriot International has also launched its new brand of three-star properties called Fairfields in India.

IITF offers free testing of soil, seeds
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 13
Intensive cropping to fill the national food kitty has not just depleted the soil of primary macro nutrients nitrogen, phosphorous and potash (N, P & K), but also micro nutrients like carbon, sulphur, manganese and iron, resulting in poor quality and discoloured grains with lower yields.

To help farmers, the Agriculture Ministry is providing free soil and seed testing facilities at the India International Trade Fair (IITF) that will begin here tomorrow. Officials say farmers or any other visitor can get soil tested for N, P & K and micro-nutrients free of cost. They can also get seeds tested for germination potential and physical purity through state-of-the-art DNA finger-printing technology.

All they have to do is submit a half-kg sample of the soil to be tested. The sample has to be a mixture of soil collected from a depth of 9”-10” from each of the four corners as well as the centre of the land or the field. The laboratory would accept soil samples daily till noon and make the report available on the same day.

Faced with filling the national kitty, specifically water-intensive paddy, land productivity in Punjab and Haryana — the grain bowl of the country — has been continuously going down. In the beginning of the Green Revolution, one acre of land used to give a yield of around 40 quintals of paddy, while now the yield has come down to 22-27 quintals. Likewise, the yield of wheat, which depending upon the seed, is down to 18- 23 quintal per acre from 24 -27 quintal acre.

Aviation Notes
Air India speeding towards crash
by KR Wadhwaney

As Air India continues to be embroiled in internal differences on appointments, promotions and transfers, Jet Airways continues to march on . The private airline has added another lucrative routes-Delhi to Milan and back. It is a daily flight with convenient take-off and landing timings offering easy connections for traveling to any city in Europe and beyond. The 'inaugural' fares are competitive and facilities to passengers enormous.

According to aviation analysts, it is a writing on the walls of Nariman Point (Mumbai) that Jet Airways, followed by Kingfisher, quietly and subtly supported by politicians, will soon wear the label of 'national carriers' while, Air India will dip lower down. All due to politicians, who forced unification of two national carriers, Air India and Indian Airlines.

Losses in Air India are mounting at jet speed with meaningless top-heavy appointments. A 'personalty clash' between CMD, Arvind Jadhav and directors has begun. The finance ministry is wary of advancing any more equity to the ailing airline, which refuses to reform and discipline its expenses. The government feels that the turnaround of the airline is not possible under the existing circumstances.

The Air India management is empowered to take any decision on staff selection is only on paper. The management has time-and-again said that the recent four top-heavy appointments are injudicious.

As 'uncertainty' has engulfed national carrier, its functioning at the Indira Handhi International Airport (IGIA) and at Ram Dass Jee Airport (Amritsar) has been adversely affected.

Routes from Amritsar to London and Toronto are lucrative and money-earners. It is not understood why Air India officials are taking these operations casually. As Indian skies are opening and as regional operations have shown unprecedented growth, foreign carriers are exercising their attention to regional routes.

Investor Guidance
Property belongs to person making payment
by AN Shanbhag

Q: I have a flat in my name in Mumbai. My wife and I have another flat in Pune. We are negotiating to sell it, and we have held the flat for 18 years. We propose to purchase another flat in Mumbai. For the Pune flat, my wife name is first and my name is second and our new agreement will also be in the same order. She does not file any I-T Return. Are we or she liable to pay any Capital Gains Tax? One of our friends has advised us to gift my old flat in Mumbai to my son. If my son takes a loan in his name & the purchase agreement would be in his name followed by my wife’s name and finally my name, then would I be liable to any Capital gains tax or Wealth tax? On Wealth-Tax. Is it that if the property is jointly owned by me & my wife along with my son, where his name is first and our names are second or third, we are not liable to pay Wealth-Tax?

— Vishnu Jamnapuri

A: Capital gains exemption under Section 54 can be claimed if and only if the purchaser of the new house is the same as the seller of the old house. Capital gains are always exigible to tax. One residential house held by the assessee is free from wealth tax. Both you and your wife will have to pay wealth tax on your second flat, if and only if your other wealth-taxable assets along with the value of the share in the Mumbai flat exceeds Rs 30 lakh. Is your son a major? If you gift your flat to your son, it will involve payment of stamp duty and registration charges. From the I-T angle, the property belongs to the person/s who have made payments for purchase of the property. This need not necessarily be the same as the names in which the purchase agreement is made. On most occasions, the funds are provided by the first holder and the other names are added for convenience and safety.

If the funds for purchasing the property in question has been provided partly by your son and the rest by you (and/or your wife), you will be liable for the tax on capital gains in the proportion of your holding.

The property belongs to the person/s who have made payments for the purchase of the property. This need not necessarily be the same as the names in which the purchase agreement is made. This tenet holds for income tax, wealth tax and all other tax regimes.

Punjab to abolish VAT on rice bran, husk, Jutti
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 13
The Punjab government has decided to abolish Value Added Tax (VAT) on rice bran, husk, nakku, kinki and Punjabi Jutti. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal took the decision, while presiding over a meeting of Traders Board, Punjab.

An official spokesman said in order to facilitate traders the chief minister also approved a reduction in VAT on pulses from 4 per cent to 1 per cent and directed the Excise and Taxation department to issue the respective notifications soon.

In another meeting of Medium Industry Development Board (MIDB), the CM approved constitution of a permanent four-member committee comprising two members each from the MIDB and Excise and Taxation Department to take up issues related to VAT theft.

IOC net up 17-fold

New Delhi: State-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) today reported a 17-fold jump in net profit for the quarter ended September 30 on back of higher refinery margins and government subsidy support. Net profit in July-September stood at Rs 5,293.95 crore compared to Rs 284.36 crore in the same period last fiscal, IOC Chairman B M Bansal said. The company earned $6.63 on processing every barrel of crude oil as opposed to a gross refining margin of $3.62 per barrel.

RCom net dips 40%

ADAG firm Reliance Communications today reported nearly 40 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 445 crore for the July-September quarter this year due to high foreign exchange provisioning. “Net profit would have been higher by 165 per cent at Rs 1,181 crore but for mark-to-market gain of Rs 735 crore, used to set-off earlier notional forex loss etc,” Reliance Communications (Rcom) said. — Agencies