|
|
|
|
|
Bankers expect cut in CRR
Power crisis hits industry in Andhra Pradesh
Air India to raise $1 bn from overseas
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Nitish invites India Inc to Bihar
Tax Advice
personal finance
RBI policy, Q4 results to dictate trend
|
|
Increasing fiscal deficit disturbing, says RBI
New Delhi, April 15 With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh listening, Subbarao said fiscal deficit in 1991 was 7 per cent and it is ruling at 5.9 per cent in 2012. The current account deficit at 3.6 per cent is higher than 1991 figure and short-term debt at 23.3 per cent of GDP in 2012 is much more than 10.2 per cent in 1991. "That is quite a disturbing picture. Nevertheless, I would still argue that in 1991, an implosion was imminent. In 2012, an implosion is not imminent," he said. Stating that the structure of the economy has changed in fundamental ways, he said financial markets are more matured, more diverse and much deeper and have "resilience to absorb shocks". "Our regulatory systems and out crisis response mechanism are more robust and more sophisticated," he added. While fiscal deficit was not entirely structural in nature, current account deficit was high because of high oil prices and gold imports, he said adding India's foreign exchange reserves today are much larger than those in 1991. "I am not saying that we have insulated ourselves from all crises for all times (or that) the economy is in pink of health or on a roll (or that) today's macroeconomic situation is not a cause for concern," he said. "On
the contrary, there are serious concerns about macroeconomic management, policy environment and
governance". Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who received a compilation of essays written by leading economists, did not make any formal comment at the discussion except to state that the economy was facing "difficulties", but expressed the hope that they would be overcome with determination. Stating that India growth story was intact, Subbarao said, "We should prove that the current downturn is just a short-term phenomenon, and that the long-term growth drivers will come back into play." He emphasised that "2012 is not 1991 all over again", but serious concerns are there and a number of things need to be done keeping the big picture in view. He, however, did not elaborate.
— PTI |
|
|
Bankers expect cut in CRR
New Delhi, April 15 "My personal stance is that cut
CRR...I would expect 75 basis point cut in CRR," SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said. Last month, RBI slashed CRR (cash reserve ratio) - the percentage of deposits that banks have to keep with the RBI - from 5.5 per cent to 4.75 per cent. With this, the central bank had infused Rs 48,000 crore into the economy. Indian Overseas Bank CMD M Narendra said "given the microeconomic condition, there is expectation that the RBI would cut both repo and CRR by 25 basis points". Showing persistent sluggishness in the economy, industrial production growth slowed to 4.1 per cent in February this year, mainly due to poor performance of manufacturing sector and consumer
goods segment. — PTI |
|
|
Power crisis hits industry in Andhra Pradesh
Hyderabad, April 15 Close on the heels of a heartening survey that put Andhra Pradesh among the top league of investment hubs, there were ominous signals from the small and medium industries which are facing huge production losses due to a 12-day power holiday in a month. In a major embarrassment to the Congress government, representatives of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Small Industries Associations (FAPSIA) undertook a relay hunger strike here, demanding adequate power supply to run their units. “If the present situation continues, we will be forced to close down our units. The losses could be unimaginable,” FAPSIA president APK Reddy said. After their talks with the officials of Labour Department failed, some of the federation members served lock-out notices to the authorities saying it would no longer be viable to continue production. Faced with power shortage, the state-run power utilities had issued notices to about 1.61 lakh small and micro industrial units to observe 2-day power holiday in a week along with the regular weekly off, with effect from February 29. Added to this is a four-hour load shedding every day from 6 pm. Put together, this will translate into 120 hours of closure due to non-supply of power. The authorities say this was inevitable due to the increasing demand from domestic sector in view of the onset of summer and the need to maintain the daily seven-hour supply to agriculture sector. However, the FAPSIA warned that if the production days in a month were cut down to 18, it would have serious consequences for the industrial production. Some companies have already hinted at a 50 per cent cut in the salaries of employees in view of the production loss. “The government’s move will deal a big blow to the industrial production as the small scale sector is already facing various other problems. The industries have to cut down 30 per cent staff and eventually shutdown, if the government continues with 12 power holidays a month,” warned J Nageswara Rao, Secretary of FAPSIA. AP accounts for about 1.61 lakh small scale units, providing livelihood to 3.7 million families. The AP Transmission Corporation has already declared that there would be a 40 per cent power cut for industries in March and April. With the power demand crossing 12,000 MW per day, the state is facing a shortfall of about 2,000 MW. The demand-supply gap is likely to further widen in the coming days. |
|
|
Air India to raise $1 bn from overseas
Mumbai, April 15 The move follows the government allowing AI to borrow up to $1 billion annually through the external commercial borrowing (ECB) route. The airline has floated an "invitation of offers" for raising funds through the ECB route. It is seeking to raise the funds for at least one-year period at either a fixed or floating rate, according to the offer document. Besides, Air India is also open to any innovative structured financing package which reduces the financing cost, says
the document. Last Thursday, the government approved the much-awaited turnaround plan and a financial restructuring plan (FRP) which involves a Rs. 30,000-crore equity infusion by the government over the next eight-year period and a debt recast (CDR) of Rs. 21,200 crore. The financial restructuring plan will provide relief to Air India from its debt servicing obligations on working capital loans in the form of a substantial reduction in interest outlays, while giving it the necessary time to improve its operational efficiency. Air India signed four agreements with the SBI-led 19 bank consortium on March 31 — the master restructuring agreement, the working capital facility agreement, the appointment of facility agent agreement and the appointment of trustee agreement, under the turnaround and CDR plans.
— PTI |
|
|
Nitish invites India Inc to Bihar
Mumbai, April 15 "The Chief Minister urged the industry captains to come and invest in Bihar as it offers a industry-friendly climate," sources said. "The state offers tremendous business opportunities in sectors such as solar energy, education, healthcare etc," Nitish Kumar told the industrialists. The meeting was attended by Vedanta Group chairman Anil Agarwal, Bharat Forge Group chief Baba Kalyanai, ICICI Bank's CMD
Chanda Kochhar, Axis Bank's chief Shikha Sharma among others. — PTI |
|
|
Tax Advice
Q. An employee has taken a housing loan from his employer i.e. OIC after pledging his property and is claiming rebate on the loan interest and principal as per the Income Tax Act.
At the same time, he has taken another housing loan on the same property from a cooperative bank and wants the rebate on principal amount and interest on this loan also. Thirdly, he declares that he is living in a rented house at his place of posting and wants HRA rebate. Now my query is that whether he can claim all the three benefits stated above at the same time. — SK Gupta A.
An individual assessee is entitled to claim a deduction for the amount repaid towards the principal amount in respect of a loan raised from the specified sources for the purchase or construction of a residential house. The amount of deduction allowable under the provisions of the Act is restricted to Rs 1 lakh. Such deduction is inclusive of the aforesaid amount and other payments towards various saving instruments. There is no limit as to the number of specified entities from whom such amount can be borrowed for the purposes of purchase or construction of a residential house. In case the employee has utilised the amount of borrowings for purchase or construction of a residential house, he will be entitled to claim deduction under Section 80C of the Act. As to the allowability of the amount of interest under Section 24 against the income from house property, a deduction is allowable to the extent of Rs 1,50,000 in case of a self-occupied house. The deduction under this section can also be claimed for the amount of interest payable to any number of entities subject, however, to the aforesaid limit. An individual resident assessee is entitled to claim exemption in respect of house rent allowance (HRA) in case he is residing in a rented accommodation and is actually making the payment of house rent. Therefore, even if he owns a house but is residing in a rented accommodation for which payment of rent is being made by him, he will be entitled to exemption of HRA in accordance with the provisions of section 10(13A) of the Act read with Rule 2A of the Income-tax Rules 1961. Q. I have executed a registered will with respect to my properties, but I have not covered any movable assets in the will. My bank accounts remain on nomination only. Do I need to generate any other document to safeguard the nominee. Please advise. — CA Deepak A. A nominee is entitled to receive the amount deposited in the bank but is accountable to the legal heirs who would inherit the amount of bank deposit. This would be a case where the nominee is not the legal heir and is entitled to inherit such an amount. It would, therefore, be advisable for you to make a ‘Codicil’ to your will in which the inheritance with regard to movable assets is duly covered. In case the will has been registered, it would be advisable to get the ‘Codicil’ also registered. Q. You had answered my query in The Tribune dated February 15, 2010, regarding exemption of licensing fee towards unfurnished accommodation provided by the employer. The same was read by my DDO, but the exemption of licensing fee towards unfurnished accommodation provided to me by my employer i.e. Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board for the year 2010-11 & 2011-12 was not entertained. The licensing fee deducted for the accommodation was added to my salary and then tax was deducted. Kindly advise what can I do to avoid such deduction. — Rakesh Kumar A.
You can provide a copy of the relevant Rule 3(1) of the Income-tax Rules to the DDO which provides as under:- Accommodation provided by the government; Where the accommodation is unfurnished; Where the accommodation is provided by the Central Government or any state government to the employees either holding office or post in connection with the affairs of the Union or of such state, the licensing fee determined by the Central Government or any State Government in respect of accommodation in accordance with the rules framed by such Government as reduced by the rent actually paid by the employee. This should enable you to satisfy the DDO not to include the licensing fee as part of the perquisite. In case he still does not agree, the only alterative is to file tax return and claim the refund from the tax department in respect of excess deduction of tax at source. Q. I am a Punjab Govt. pensioner. I shall turn 80 on 26.7.2012. My total income during the year 2011-12 shall not exceed Rs 3 lakh. Kindly advise if I am supposed to file my ITR of the Assessment Year 2012-13 due to be submitted by the end of July 2012. - If yes, then what would be the IT exemption for a senior citizen? - If no, should I have to intimate the Income Tax Department and surrender PAN? — Pritam Singh A.
You will be liable to file the return of income for assessment year 2012-13 by 30th July 2012 as you will be attaining age of 80 years in the financial year 2012-13. The limit up to which a senior citizen is not liable to pay income-tax for assessment year 2012-13 is Rs 2,50,000. Since you are liable to file the return of income, the question of surrendering PAN does not arise. In any case, it would be advisable not to surrender your PAN even after 26.7.2012. |
|
|
personal finance
The travel insurance market in India is fairly young but it is showing signs of rapid evolution with the changing times. The industry is growing annually at the rate of 10-15%. Initially started as a basic medical cover in a foreign land, travel insurance today has become a comprehensive package covering eventualities like medical evacuation, repatriation of remains, personal accident, trip cancellation and interruption, home insurance and also financial emergency assistance.
Awareness needs to be built on the fact that in a travel insurance policy, in addition to medical coverage, there is non-medical coverage which the customer can avail. These include benefits and covers uncertainties like a trip cancellation and interruption, missed connection, personal accident, burglary, hijack distress, trip delay, accommodation charges due to trip delay and personal liability which are not available in a standalone health insurance policy. Domestic travel insurance has seen increasing popularity in the last 4-5 years and is growing fast. The same is being encouraged by means of tie-ups with airlines, tour operators and online portals. Domestic travel insurance can be easily availed today from ticketing sites and airlines while purchasing tickets.
n One should ensure that insurance is bought from a registered insurance company with a good brand name and track record n Before buying the policy, it is advisable to read the terms and conditions carefully along with the information on product offerings, claims process and toll free number n One should ensure that all documentations regarding the insurance policy are presented in a clear and transparent manner n It is also essential to go through all the documents and terms and conditions properly before travelling One needs to understand what one is exactly covered for. Apart from the scope of coverage, one also needs to go through the conditions specified for the coverage. In fact, 'Terms and Conditions' is one of the most important sections of the policy wording. Hence, it is important to give equal importance to exclusions as to coverage. Travel policies typically do not cover pre-existing conditions or any complication arising from it, travelling against the advice of the physician, being under the influence of drugs, alcohol, other intoxicants unless prescribed by a physician, participation in adventure sport activity etc. The customer should understand clearly the process for lodging a claim in case of an eventuality. A clear understanding would ensure hassle-free claim experience. For instance, to lodge claims for travel delays, along with the duly-filled claim forms it is required to also attach the following documents:
A dependable domestic travel insurance policy takes care of the surprises that can occur when you travel. Therefore, investing in domestic travel insurance is a wise and financially sensible move. The writer is an Executive Director, ICICI Lombard GIC Ltd. The views expressed are his own
|
|
|
RBI policy, Q4 results to dictate trend
The markets were spooked by the results of Infosys on Friday. Call it what you may but the markets behaved as expected for the first four and a half days, but Friday and Infosys changed all that. One has not seen a fall of 12.5% in Infosys in a single day over the last 34-35 quarters and the fall shook the market completely. On Friday, Infosys alone contributed to a loss of over 200 points on the BSE Sensex.
The Sensex lost 391.51 points or 2.24% to close at 17,094.51 points. The NSE Nifty lost 115.45 points or 2.17% to close at 5,207.45 points. The broader indices like the BSE100, BSE200 and BSE500 lost similarly with losses of 2.12%, 2.20% and 2.12%, respectively. The BSE Midcap lost 2.10% while the BSE Smallcap lost a mere 0.67%. In sectoral indices, the BSE FMCG was the big gainer up 3.6% while BSE Auto gained 0.91%. BSE Bankex was a small loser down 0.34%. The big loser was BSE IT down 11.5% at 5,404.27 points. BSE Cap lost 4.43%. In individual stocks, FMCG majors Hind Unilever gained 6.14% while ITC gained 3.98%. Tata Motors gained 3.94% while SBI was up 2.17%. The losers saw Infosys lose a staggering Rs 447 or 15.68% to close at Rs 2,403. TCS lost 9.23%, Hindalco 6.35% and BHEL 5.59%. The Indian rupee depreciated marginally to Rs 51.30. FIIs were net sellers for the week and this happened for the first time in the calendar year 2012. Their net sale was Rs 1,342 crore while domestic institutions sold stock worth Rs 824 crore. IIP or industrial production figures were announced and the revision in the January figures has become a laughing stock in the country. January IIP numbers have been revised downwards from 6.8% to 1.1%. The Finance Minister is shocked at this revision and I believe the department which churns out these statistics has also been affected by the ‘retrospective’ effect currently prevalent in the country. The week ahead would see inflation numbers being announced on Monday and the RBI credit policy meet on Tuesday. There is wild speculation on what is the likely outcome of this meeting but a lot would depend on inflation numbers and the credibility of the same set of numbers looking at the last few instances. This would make the markets extremely volatile and could cause sharp price movements in the market. The biggest driver in the market has been liquidity and FII purchases were supporting the same. The net sale during the week gone by has put even this factor under watch and if the trend does not reverse in the current week it could be a cause for concern. The week ahead would see the BSE Sensex having support at 16,955 points, then at 16,788, then at 16,659 and finally at 16,564 points. It has resistance at 17,319, then at 17,690, then at 17,325 and finally at 17,778 points. The NSE Nifty has support at 5,159, then at 5,125, then at 5,038 and finally at 5,005 points. It has resistance at 5,281, then at 5,328, then at 5,378 and finally at 5,412 points. The week would be choppy and driven by domestic events on the first two days as there is lot of expectation from the credit policy in respect of cuts which would lead to softer interest rates. If everything goes well and global markets recover as well, we could see the markets in India posting weekly gains, otherwise we could be fairly flat or neutral on a weekly basis. Being event-driven, markets would overall be choppy and volatile and caution needs to be
exercised. The writer is founder of KRIS, an investment advisory firm. The views expressed are his own market pointers
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Travel and tourism is one of the fastest-growing sectors around the world. With the rise in standards of living, more and more people are embarking on journeys and exploring places. However, for a hassle-free trip, it is important that one addresses all the travel requirements carefully and in advance. Travel insurance policy is one such important measure that takes care of all the travel-related uncertainties of a customer. It secures them and their loved ones in their sojourn abroad.
With the increase in tourism within India it is important to induce awareness about the availability of domestic travel insurance. Most people today are still largely unaware about the availability of domestic travel insurance in India. Domestic travel insurance is something that travellers overlook while planning a local holiday. It is important to be aware of the range of comprehensive benefits that are offered when one purchases a domestic travel policy.
So the question is how does one purchase suitable domestic travel insurance? The easiest way to purchase domestic travel Insurance is while booking the tickets directly through the airlines' websites, online portals and through tour operators who tie up with the insurance companies and bundle the tour packages or tickets along with the domestic travel insurance policy. These policies protect customers from unnecessary interruptions.