Bathinda, April 2
Bringing permanent relief to the cotton factory and ginning mill owners, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced the reduction of 1 per cent in the market Fee levied on cotton purchase in the state. The Rural Development Fund (RDF) cess imposed on cotton purchase has also been reduced by 1 per cent.

Earlier, accepting the demand of the Punjab Cotton Factories and Ginners’ Association the state government had temporarily slashed the Market Fee and the Rural Development Fund (RDF) from 2 per cent to 1 per cent (each) in October 2010 for up to March 31, 2011. After the decision, both taxes are now at 1 per cent.

The CM urged association members to put 0.25 per cent of the total cotton purchase amount in the state government’s recently-created fund for the Cancer patients’ help as a goodwill gesture.

Finding no unanimity among the association members, Badal said: “I am not compelling you so if you all reach an amicable decision, do inform me later on.”

The CM added that major cotton madis of Malwa will be provided with well-equipped fire-brigades to counter any fire tragedy during the cotton arrival season.

Badal added, “I wish this region which is known as Cotton belt of the state to be developed a hub of textile mills. If it happens, people will enjoy the benefits of value addition.”

New Delhi, April 2
Over the last decade, food grain production has grown slower than growth rate of population. Industry body PHDCCI has estimated that the growth rate of population was higher (1.4%) than that of food grain output growth (1%). However, incomes have risen (per capita income increased at an average 5.4% per annum during 2000-10 at constant prices).

This has had implications. The per capita daily availability of food grain for an Indian citizen was 459 gm in the 1980s and 478 gm in the 1990s. However in 2000s, the per capita availability has been reduced to 446 grams.

A PHDCCI statement issued in December 2010 had warned that food grain production was already falling below population growth. “India’s real GDP grew at an average more than 7% per annum during 2000s (FY01-FY10) supported by a 7.6% annual growth in industry and a 9% annual growth in services. However, the agriculture sector grew at an average of 2.5% per annum during the same period in which the average rate of growth of food grain was 1% per annum. The annual rate of growth of food grain production declined to 2% and 1% per annum in 1990s and 2000s respectively,” the industry chamber said.

The government pegs food grain production for last fiscal at 232.07 million tones (MT), according to the 2nd advance estimates for the year. In 2009-10, the production was 218.11 MT.

Hyderabad, April 2
Godrej group chief Adi Godrej has been elected as the chairman of the executive board of the Indian School of Business (ISB), following the resignation of Rajat Gupta who is embroiled in an insider trading case in the US.

Godrej was unanimously elected as the chairman after a meeting of the executive board here today, ISB Dean Ajit Rangnekar told reporters.

Godrej said he is taking over as the chairman under "unusual circumstances".

ISB's executive board has more than 30 members, including Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group Chairman Anil Ambani, Bajaj Auto Chairman Rahul Bajaj, Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Mittal, Infosys Chief Mentor N R Narayana Murthy, ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and ArcelorMittal CEO Lakshmi Mittal, according to its website.

About 13 members attended today's meeting.

A premier business school, ISB has academic alliances with the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, among others.

A well-known Indian-American, Gupta founded the ISB. — PTI

Kapurthala, April 1
The Rail Coach Factory (RCF), Kapurthala, today rolled out 16 Coaches for the country’s first non-AC day Duranto train to be run on Amritsar-Chandigarh section shortly.

The coaches include 12 non-AC chair cars with seating capacity of 106 seats, three AC chair cars and one power car.

The rake is the first of its kind in the Railways as non-AC chair car coaches have been developed for the first time in Stainless Steel configuration.

Sources said the Railway Board will take the final decision the Duranto’s halts at Jalandhar and Ludhiana. The board has not yet decided if the train will start its journey either from Amritsar or Chandigarh in the morning, its timings, fare and date.

A senior Railways officials said the Board planned to run the day duranto on the Amritsar-Chandiarh section via Sirhind, Morinda. It will cover the distance from Amritsar to Chandigarh in four hours.

The Board plans to start it journey from Amritsar to Chandigarh in the morning and on the reverse route in the evening, but bureaucrats and general public have been demanding otherwise.

The malady of forged certificates has been operating for at least a decade. Several commissions, particularly the Seth committee, has pin-pointed that the base of corruption in aviation sector is Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Around four years ago, the US’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) threatened to downgrade the safety ranking of DGCA. The DGCA first pleaded for time and then assured the FAA that all shortcomings in the safety sector would be plugged. Some cosmetic changes were also brought about in the DGCA, thus escaping the censure.

Indians have learnt to live dangerously because authorities wake up from their deep slumber only after a casualty takes place. Had the Indigo woman pilot not indulged in ‘rough landing’ at the Goa airport, the fudging racket would not have become public.

Several captains and co-pilots of different airlines, including Air India (AI), have been caught. New arrests are also being made. There is hardly a day when new names of pilots are not being made public. One senior DGCA

Official has also been held in licence scam. If the government is serious about reducing corruption in this vital sector, it should institute an independent committee to probe the scam, instead of involving senior officials of the DGCA. There are DGCA officials, whose children are on pay-role of the private airlines. If the corruption is to be reduced, the pool of the DGCA must be cleansed.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and other concerned departments have woken up from their sleep saying that a complex, built by the Delhi Development Authority DDA in Vasant Kunj violates height rules prevalent in the region by about 4 m. The complex, according to reports, comes on the landing path of the third runway. The point to be pondered over is who cleared the construction and granted permission to the DDA. Until this is cleared, more violations will continue.

Q: Tax on my salary is already deducted by my employer. However, there is certain income which I expect to receive on or around 25th March every year but since I did not know the amount of the income I used to pay tax very conservatively before 15th March on estimated basis. After receipt of the income, if any extra tax was to be paid, I used to pay it before 31st March. Refunds, if any, I used to claim through my tax returns. The recent Budget has permitted me and all the taxpayers like me not to file any tax returns to avoid duplication. Can I take advantage of the same next year? - Tejas Thakkar

A : Under the existing provisions contained in section 139(1) of the ITA, every person, if his total income during the previous year exceeds the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income-tax, is required to furnish a return of his income. In the case of salaried tax payer, entire tax liability is discharged by the employer through deduction of tax at source. Complete details of such tax payers are also reported by the employer through TDS statements.

Therefore, Finance Act 2011 has exempted those employees who have no other source of income, since filing of a return is a duplication of the information. Going by the letter of the law, the right not to file the returns is bestowed on only those employees who do not have any income from any other source.

This condition makes the provision impotent since, every employee, without an exception receives an income from one other source or another, typically as interest on SB Bank account. Therefore, almost all experts have assumed that the exemption would be available to all those who declare their income from other sources to their employers. Such an assumption is strictly not in conformity with the language adopted by the law. I hope CBDT realisms the anomaly and correct it, sooner the better.