New Delhi, May 2
India has strongly objected to Switzerland’s denial of information about account details of certain Indians at HSBC’s Swiss bank branches, in whose cases “incriminating evidence of tax evasion” have been found here.

In a strongly-worded letter to his Swiss counterpart, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has also warned that an effective exchange of tax-related information was “extremely important” for economic co-operation between the two countries and Switzerland must honour its “rights and duties” agreed to in their bilateral Direct Tax Avoidance Convention (DTAC).

This is Chidambaram’s third letter to Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer Schlumpf within four months on this matter and he again reiterated that India would continue to take a position at the Global Forum about Switzerland lacking a legal and regulatory framework for an effective exchange of information.

Chidambaram also said the interpretation made by Switzerland that it could not share information as per India’s request was not in accordance with international standards.

Switzerland communicated its decision against sharing the information through a letter dated April 7 to Chidambaram, pursuant to which India has now stepped up its pressure on the European nation, which has been long perceived as a major safe haven for alleged black money stashed by Indians and other foreign nationals due to its strong banking secrecy laws.

Under global pressure, Switzerland has agreed to ease its banking secrecy laws in recent years and it also signed a revised tax treaty with India in 2011 to facilitate greater flow of information about alleged black money.

However, it has refused to share information with India about the accounts mentioned in the so-called “HSBC list” which India had received from France through a bilateral treaty.

However, it has been widely reported that France had received that list after data was stolen by a disgruntled HSBC employee in 2011 and those names eventually found their way to tax authorities across the world, including India.

The FM said Switzerland was putting unusual pre-conditions for sharing information which appear to be “intended to refuse assistance” and such refusal amounts to Swiss authorities providing protection to the people “found to have evaded Indian taxes”.

Switzerland has rejected India's request on the pretext that the information was being sought on the basis of stolen data and it claims that its local laws do not permit exchange of information in such cases where some criminality may be involved for getting the data. — PTI

Black money trail Switzerland has signed a revised tax treaty with India in 2011 to facilitate greater flow of information about alleged black money. However, it has refused to share information about the accounts mentioned in the ‘HSBC list’ Chidambaram has sent third letter to the Swiss Finance Minister within four months and again reiterated that India will continue to take a position at the Global Forum about Switzerland lacking a legal and regulatory framework for an effective exchange of information Switzerland has been long perceived as a major safe haven for the black money stashed by Indians and other foreign nationals due to its strong banking secrecy laws

Now, a consortium should be limited to a maximum number of six entities

The move came after the ministry faced criticism from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for delaying the auction. The government auditor had alleged that the allotment of 57 mines to private firms without auction resulted in a notional loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer.

CBI finds former Coal Secy's questioning ‘useful’

After questioning former Coal Secretary PC Parakh for two days on alleged charges of abusing his official position to grant the Talabira- II to Hindalco, the CBI has obtained useful information, which would support the evidence collected by the agency, sources said.

He today entered the CBI office at 7.30 am and was quizzed till 9 pm. The sources said, yesterday Parakh was shown records of the coal block before his questioning was started, keeping in view that he might not remember all records. He was given sufficient time to re-examine the files. He was earlier summoned for questioning on April 25. But he sought time from the CBI due to certain reasons. — TNS

New Delhi, May 2
Commerce Minister Anand Sharma today threatened to drag the European Union (EU) to the World Trade Organization (WTO) if the 28-nation bloc did not lift its ban on the import of Indian mangoes and vegetables.

“We do hope that the EU will see sense, considering the strength of the economic partnership between India and EU, and not precipitate the situation any further, which leads us to go to the WTO,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma told reporters here.

Sharma said he had already written a letter on the matter to EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

He said the government had invested in creating world-class laboratories through the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and their certification processes were acceptable to the EU, the US and other countries.

The minister described the EU’s move as an “arbitrary action without any consultation.” “It has no justification and I have said in my communication that it will definitely have negative fallout in respect of our economic relationship,” Sharma said.

He said APEDA had the mandate of certification of agri-produce exports and that was acceptable to all countries. “That is why APEDA and the commerce ministry have taken up this matter,” he said, expressing hope that the issue would be resolved. Yesterday, when asked if India is considering dragging the EU to WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism over the import curbs, Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher said the issue should be addressed through consultation.

Mumbai, May 2
Drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories started recalling 29,790 packs of an allergy-relief medicine in the United States in February, after finding defects in the packaging, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.

The loratadine and pseudoephedrine sulphate extended release tablets being recalled carry an expiry date of September 2015, and were manufactured by Ranbaxy;s Ohm Labs plant in New Jersey, which is the company’s only facility making generics for the United States.

All other Ranbaxy plants, based in India, have been banned from exporting generics to the United States after the FDA found manufacturing quality glitches that the agency believed could compromise the quality of medicines.

Rival Indian drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries agreed to buy Ranbaxy last month in a $3.2 billion deal, betting it can fix Ranbaxy’s problems.

The FDA classified the recall by Ohm Labs as Class II, which means use of or exposure to the recalled products may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences.

Ranbaxy did not immediately respond to requests for comment. — Reuters

New Delhi, May 2
India’s factory output growth remained flat in April as a slowdown in export orders was countered by firmer domestic demand during the month, an HSBC survey today said.

The HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a measure of factory production, stood at 51.3 in April, unchanged from 51.3 in March, amid moderate expansion of incoming new business orders. Activity in the sector expanded for the sixth consecutive month in March. A PMI reading above 50 indicates growth, while a lower reading means contraction.

“The momentum in the manufacturing sector held broadly steady, with domestic demand countering a slowdown in export orders,” HSBC chief economist for India and ASEAN Leif Eskesen said. He said a build-up in finished goods inventories could weigh on output growth in the coming months in the absence of a pick-up in demand. “Inflation pressures eased, but that does not mean that the RBI can take down its inflation guards,” he said.

“Output is held back by lack of power capacity and soft demand, with external demand easing recently and, anecdotally, due to a decline in order for investment goods. While we may get more traction on economic reform and implementation of investment projects post the elections, it will still take a while before we see a notable and more sustained lift to activity,” HSBC said.

BRIEFLY

Gold, silver fall on ‘Akshaya Tritiya’
New Delhi: Gold prices fell by Rs 195 to Rs 30,390 per 10 grams in the national capital on Friday as auspicious Akshaya Tritiya failed to evoke any sizeable buying support for the metal. Silver also dropped for the third straight day by losing Rs 430 to Rs 41,650 per kg. — PTI

Jet Airways acting CEO Gopalakrishnan quits
New Delhi: The top-level exodus at Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways continued on Friday, with chief financial officer and acting CEO Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan quitting. “Ravishankar Gopalakrishnan, chief financial officer and acting chief executive of the company, has resigned from the services with effect from Friday,” Jet Airways said. — PTI

Tata Power rights issue oversubscribed
New Delhi: Tata Power on Friday said it had raised nearly Rs 2,000 crore by selling shares to existing shareholders for which it received nearly double the required bids. It had offered up to 33 crore equity shares at Rs 60 per share for Rs 1,993.38 crore on a rights basis, which closed on April 15, to the existing shareholders. — PTI

BHEL commissions 160-MW power plant in Rajasthan
New Delhi: BHEL on Friday announced the commissioning of the 160-MW combined cycle power llant in Rajasthan. “The commissioning of the steam turbine has enabled the gas turbine, which was commissioned earlier, to operate in a combined cycle mode,” BHEL said. — PTI