Former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Nripendra Misra was today questioned by the CBI in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam. Misra, who was also the Secretary in the Telecom Ministry, had taken over the chairmanship of TRAI from Pradip Baijal in 2006.
Senior Citizens should be a happy lot after the Budget. After meeting their long-standing demand of making 60 as the defining age of senior citizens, the finance minister has also introduced a special category — ‘very-senior’ — for citizens over the age of 80, perhaps in tune with the rising life expectancy. The basic exemption limit for this new category will be Rs 5 lakh (Rs 500,000), double than that for senior citizens.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal] said on Tuesday he is in favour of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s proposal to conduct an audit of the total available spectrum in the country with a focus on how much was allocated to private operators from 2000 onward and at what cost.
In a nationwide crackdown on bogus ration card holders, over 2.8 crore ineligible ration cards have been deleted from July 2006 till now in different parts of the country, Parliament was informed today. Maximum 59.67 lakh bogus ration cards were deleted in West Bengal during the period, Food and Public Distribution minister K V Thomas said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
As per the Clause 49 of the Equity Listing Agreement, all the listed entities including listed Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) are required to appoint requisite number of Independent Directors on their Boards. Where the Chairman of the Board is a non-executive director, at least one-third of the Board should comprise of Independent Directors and in case he is an executive director, at least half of the Board should comprise of Independent Directors.
The hon’ble Finance Minister of India has introduced the Finance Bill, 2011 on 25.2.2011. This bill has withdrawn a no. of exemptions given to various tariff items. By this bill, a no. of entries that attracted the NIL rate of duty in tariff has also been brought under the purview of excise duty. On some tariff items, rate of duty have been fixed as 5%. These two are the major changes that have been made in the Excise Tariff vide Finance Bill, 2011. But as it mostly happens, these two exemptions have created an ambiguity amongst the assessees. This piece talks about the various spheres of these two notifications.
The rate of customs duty on the import of Stainless Steel Scrap under exemption Notification No. 21/2002-Cus dated 01.03.2002 has always been surrounded by controversies. There has been an amendment in the rate of duty on the import of SS scrap in almost all the Budgets announced in the recent years. We wrote article earlier on this controversy titled as “Non- Melting Controversy on Melting Scrap”
With effect from 16.05.2008, the services pertaining to purchase or sale of foreign currency, including money changing was brought under service tax. The authorised dealers in foreign exchange or authorized changers were also covered. The Authorised money exchanger was required to be authorised under Section 10(1) of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 to deal in foreign exchange or foreign securities. Thus, the authority from Reserve Bank of India was a pre-condition for treating a foreign exchange broker as an authorised dealer of foreign exchange.
It has been proposed in the Budget 2011-12 to increase the ceiling of 4% on declared goods under section 15 of CST Act to 5%. Currently State Governments cannot levy VAT more than 4% on declared goods. Declared goods are those goods which are of special importance and have been defined u/s 14 of CST Act 1956. This increase has been made in view of recent increase in the VAT slab rate of 4% to 5% by many states.
The Ministry of Corporate Affair (MCA) has notified 35 Indian IFRS standards (known as “Ind-AS’), without announcing the applicability date. In its press release, the MCA has stated that Ind-AS will be applied in a phased manner, to ensure smooth transition for all stakeholders. The notification of Ind-AS is a significant step toward the implementation of converged standards in India. Companies may particularly note that the MCA will intimate the implementation date later; however, it does not state if the implementation is deferred. Also, the question regarding whether a company can apply Ind-AS early, if it desires to do so, and the manner of quarterly reporting still remains open.
