New Delhi, May 15
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Tuesday the much awaited Direct Taxes Code Bill would be introduced in Parliament in the upcoming monsoon session. He added most of the recommendations of the parliamentary standing committee on the DTC would be accepted.

Mukherjee stated this in the Rajya Sabhaas he moved the Finance Bill, 2012 for consideration. The bill has already been approved by the Lok Sabha.

Introduction of the DTC is being demanded as a major reform measure to rationalize the income tax laws and has missed several deadlines. If most of the recommendations of the standing committee are accepted, the bill may not face much opposition but again as many bills are hanging fire, the fate of this bill will be know only in the next session.

“I will have the opportunity after the budget session is over to go through all the standing committee’s recommendations and thereafter approval of the cabinet and bring the DTC bill for approval of both the Houses in the next monsoon session,” Mukherjee said.

He added during the deliberations many of the recommendations of the standing committee will be accepted.

Mukherjee said he could not go through the all the recommendations the standing committee as the report was given on March 9 and Finance Bill presented on March 16.

The Direct Taxes Code Bill will have far reaching consequences on the income tax laws in the country as it replaces the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The parliamentary standing committee on the DTC, headed by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, in its report had given a number of recommendations, including raising income tax exemption limit to Rs 3 lakh from Rs. 1.8 lakh now. It has also recommended a very liberal tax rate regime with 10% tax on income between Rs 3-10 lakh, 20% on income between Rs 10-20 lakh and 30% income above Rs 20 lakh.

Other recommendations of the panel on the Direct Taxes Code Bill include a hike in the investment limit for tax savings schemes to Rs. 3.20 lakh and pegging wealth tax limit at Rs 5 crore.

It also recommended abolition of the securities transaction tax. As regards corporate tax it recommended the rate be retained at 30%.

PTI adds: Mukherjee ruled out reopening of cases where assessment orders have been finalized following retrospective amendment in laws related to taxation of overseas deals involving Indian assets. 

Chandigarh, May 15
In spite of the insistence on part of the state level bankers committee for promoting the ambitious debt swap scheme, meant to wean away farmers from indebtedness to private moneylenders by swapping their debts with bank loans, many banks have failed to implement the scheme.

The issue came up for discussion during the committee’s meeting for Haryana and Punjab held here on Tuesday. It was found that leading state-owned banks including Canara Bank, Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Andhra Bank, Corporation Bank, almost all cooperative banks and most private banks (Axis Bank, Federal Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank), have not been promoting this scheme.

Recent data released by the committee for the two states, reveals that this scheme has not made much headway in the two states. Most of the above mentioned banks have not even got the amount for debt swap enhanced from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh, by their respective boards of directors. The panel expressed concern that in spite of high rural indebtedness in both states, farmers seem to have not taken to the scheme, with banks in Punjab achieving just 17.49% of the target, and Haryana achieving just 18% of the target set for it to swap the farmers’ debts.

The data also reveals that in both states it is mainly the state-owned and regional rural banks that have initiated the scheme. In Haryana, public sector banks attained 26% of the target set for them, while regional rural banks have achieved 30% of the target set for them under this scheme. As against a target of Rs 1014. 88 crore that has to be extended as loans by swapping debts of farmers, banks in Haryana have managed to disburse just Rs 187.47 crore under the scheme in FY2012.

Similarly, in Punjab, as against a target for disbursing Rs 4,140. 38 crore under this scheme (FY2011-12), banks have disbursed just Rs 215.82 crore till September. Both cooperative and private banks in have failed to implement this scheme, though all banks operating in the two states had been given a target to ensure that three per cent of total disbursement for agriculture is earmarked for extending loans under the debt swap scheme.

Sources close to the banking sector told The Tribune that the main reason for the poor response to the scheme was that farmers were asked to seek certificates from moneylenders, to be furnished to the banks, stating the exact amount of debt that had to be swapped with a bank loan. 

Mumbai, May 15
Authorities are investigating top mobile phone carrier Bharti Airtel under provisions of the money laundering and foreign exchange rules, a minister said, sending its shares down as much as 5.1 percent.

The directorate of enforcement is investigating cases against Bharti, minister of state for finance S.S. Palanimanickam told parliament on Tuesday, but declined to give further details.

"It may not be in the interest of the ongoing investigations to provide any further details," Palanimanickam said in a written reply to questions from a lawmaker.

Bharti Airtel, controlled by billionaire Sunil Mittal, said it was cooperating with government investigators.

"We have already provided all relevant details asked for by the relevant authorities in this matter and will be happy to cooperate further, should the need arise," the telecom service provider said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Bharti, nearly a third owned by Southeast Asia's top phone company, SingTel, operates in 20 countries across Asia and Africa and is the world's fifth-biggest mobile phone carrier by subscribers. India is its biggest market.

India's once-booming telecoms sector has been battered by a massive scandal over the below-market-price grant of lucrative telecoms licences in 2008, mostly involving smaller carriers.

But market leaders Bharti and Vodafone's local unit are also being probed by police over "possible irregularities" in grant of airwaves to them in 2001 and 2002. Police conducted searches at Bharti and Vodafone offices in November in the case.

By 2:20 pm, shares in Bharti, valued at more than $21 billion, were down 1.8% at Rs 302.40 in a Mumbai market that was up 0.4%. The shares had fallen to and intraday low of Rs 292.05 before paring losses. — Reuters

New York City, May 15
Facebook Inc has increased the price range in Silicon Valley's biggest-ever initial public offering to raise more than $12 billion, giving the No.1 social network a valuation potentially exceeding $100 billion.

The company founded in a Harvard dorm room by Mark Zuckerberg raised the price target range to between $34 and $38 per share in response to strong demand, from $28 to $35, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

That would value Facebook at roughly $93 billion to $104 billion, rivaling the market capitalization of Internet powerhouses like Amazon.com Inc and exceeding that of Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc combined.

At the midpoint of $36, Facebook would raise $12.1 billion, eclipsing Google Inc's debut in 2004.

Wall Street had expected the company to increase the price range, with investors keen to get a slice of a strong consumer brand. The IPO roadshow began last week and has drawn crowds of investors from coast to coast.

Facebook plans to close the books on its IPO later on Tuesday, two days ahead of schedule, and in a signal that the landmark initial share sale is drumming up strong demand, a source familiar with the deal told Reuters on Monday.

The social network is scheduled to price its shares on Thursday and begin trading on Friday. The IPO is already "well oversubscribed," which is why the company is closing its books earlier than anticipated, the source said.

WHAT NEXT? Facebook plans to sell 337.4 million shares, or 12.3 percent of the company. The capital-raising target far outstrips other big Internet IPOs. Google raised just shy of $2 billion in 2004, while last year Groupon Inc tapped investors for $700 million and Zynga Inc raked in $1 billion. — Reuters

London, May 15
Gold eased below $1,560 an ounce on Tuesday after the failure of Greek politicians to form a government sent the single European currency to four-month lows and unnerved investors over the profitability of holding euro-denominated assets.

With gold's decline to its lowest since late December, consumers in top purchasing-nations such as India have delved into the market, which analysts said could protect the bullion price from a more protracted decline.

Gold remains vulnerable, however, as worries over the euro zone's future simmer in the background, keeping the single currency under pressure.

Spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,555.69 an ounce at 1350 GMT, while US gold futures for June delivery were down $8.70 an ounce at $1,552.10.

Gold earlier hit its lowest since Dec 30 at $1,547.99 an ounce and is down nearly 7% in May so far, on track for its worst monthly performance since December and a fourth monthly loss. — Reuters