Chandigarh, May 28
All state governments need to have joint task forces with the industry bodies so that they can help create conducive investment climate in these states. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is creating these task forces with various state governments, and is now working on creating these in Punjab and Haryana.

B. Muthuraman, president, CII, said they have revived these task forces in Maharashtra, and were now planning to revive this in Punjab, and open a task force in Haryana. “We have successfully created these task forces in Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. In Jammu and Kashmir, we are working on creating investment climate in the areas of agriculture, food processing, healthcare and IT,” he said.

He said CII was of the view that corruption could dampen the spirit of domestic and foreign investment flow into the country, if not contained. “It is for this reason that we want to help the government in bringing good governance, and thus set up these task forces,” he added.

On his maiden visit to the city as CII president, Muthuraman, also said environment was a key concern for them. “We are asking all our members to be more sensitive to environmental issues. Our representatives will also be visiting industrialists in Jalandhar and ask them to ensure that all measures are taken to maintain a clean environment,” he said.

Claiming that governance in terms of transparency was one of the most important agenda of the CII this year, Muthuraman, who is also the vice-chairman of Tata Steel, said CII was evolving a code of conduct for its company members to ensure dealing with governments in a transparent manner. "We are coming up with a code of conduct for our members companies. We want to make sure that when we go to government we have enacted enough things to become more transparent and clean," he said. He added that CII was also working to upgrade skills of people and help the government formulate a policy on allocation and pricing of natural resources.

New Delhi, May 28
As a huge debate over the menace of black money rages in the country, the government has constituted a committee under the chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), to examine ways to strengthen laws to curb the generation of black money in the country, its illegal transfer abroad and its recovery.

According to a Finance Ministry statement, the committee includes representatives from CBDT, Enforcement Directorate(ED), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence among others.

The brief of the panel will be to examine the existing legal and administrative framework to deal with the menace of generation of black money through illegal means.

It will also examine declaring wealth generated illegally as national asset, enacting and amending laws to confiscate and recover such assets and providing for exemplary punishment against its perpetrators.

The Committee will also consult all the stakeholders and submit its report within a period of six months.

The crash of yet another single-engine aircraft in Faridabad on May 25 was waiting to happen as pilots and engineers, connected with general (corporate) aviation, were sadly not even remotely adhering to norms and parameters of flying.

According to survey and statistics, the pilots and engineers, engaged in general aviation, are beyond the control of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and ministry as they consider themselves autonomous.

History screams that corporate bosses and state governments buy helicopters and small aircraft in a haste without setting aside adequate budget for maintenance and salaries of the cockpit crew. As a result, inexperienced pilots are recruited and, according to aviation analysts, there is as much scam of fake pilots and engineers in this sector as existing in the civil aviation.

Twelve persons, seven on board an air ambulance and five on the ground - died when P-12 turboprop aircraft belonging to Delhi-based Air Chartered Services India Private Limited crashed in the thickly-populated Jawahar Nagar locality. It was a sheer providence that only five persons on the ground perished in this crash.

According to preliminary inquiry, the air ambulance, engaged in transporting a critically-ill patient from Patna to Delhi, was in control of two pilots, who were not in ‘peak flying condition’, leading to tragic accident.

This is just the right moment to hand over probe to an independent investigator instead of giving it to any tainted or involved persons. The terms of reference to the independent authority should be that, in addition to determining cause or causes for the accident, he or a committee should also examine as to what percentage of ‘fake’ pilots and engineers are on pay-rolls of the state governments and industrialist outfits.

The government is said to have decided to appoint a panel to investigate accidents and incidents instead of depending upon the DGCA which, according to civil aviation analysts, does not undertake probe of accidents like one in Mangalore as ruthlessly, efficiently and independently as the occasion demands.

Indeed, delinking the DGCA from probes is timely. But, what is most essential is that findings are heeded and action taken instead of keeping the reports buried in the Rajiv Bhavan, as has been happening for the last several decades.

The aviation - civil and general - are in mess because the authorities concerned are either incompetent or lukewarm in their findings. Strict action against defaulters is the need of the hour.

Q. Please answer the following queries:

1. If one earns capital gains from sale of a house, can one save taxes by investing the same in a plot of land?

2. If one builds a house on that plot after two years can one save capital gains tax even if the house is rented out or if the house is sold?

3. Will capital gains from sale of a plot be treated as capital gains from sale of a house?

4. A house sold in the current year was renovated (improvement) 10 years earlier as per plans submitted to the municipality. However, there is no evidence of the expenses incurred. Can the owner consider the advantage of the renovation as additional expenses to calculate the capital gains? — Sarvoday

A. Sec. 54 requires the capital gains to be invested only in a residential property.

2. The taxpayer can claim exemption u/s 54 by investing the Long- Term Capital Gains (not the entire sale proceeds) to purchase a residential house within 1 year before or 2 years after the date of sale of the old house. Alternatively, a residential house may be constructed within 3 years after the date. Therefore, if you buy a plot of land and construct a house on such plot within three years of selling the original house, then you may have opportunity to save capital gain taxes.

3. Capital gains from sale of a plot is not the same as capital gains from sale of a residential house for purpose of saving taxes since a plot and a house are two distinctly separate assets.