The ICC today rejected reports that the World Cup with the Indian team is a replica and maintained that it is the original trophy after controversy broke out over news that that it was a fake that was presented to the team on Saturday. Media reports today said that the Cup given to Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team was a fake and that the original was lying with the customs in Mumbai over non-payment of duties.
The Indian cricket players can’t seem to put it down it but the World Cup trophy they have with them is actually just a replica as the original is still lying with the customs. “The original is lying with the Customs,” said a BCCI sources without elaborating. When contacted Customs sources, however, said the Cup was with them for non-payment of duty of 35 per cent of the original value.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Ministry of Finance has denied that the original ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 trophy is lying in the Airport Customs Warehouse in Mumbai. The clarification was issued in response to the report appearing in certain section of media that actual ICC Cricket World Cup trophy has not been awarded to the winning India Cricket team at Wankhede Stadium,Mumbai on Saturday,2nd April,2011.
The Press all over the world reported that the Customs Officers agreed to release the trophy if they were given tickets for the match. The ICC official gave them the shock of their lives and asked them to keep the trophy as there was another version of the trophy already in the stadium. Pakistan’s Daily Mail reported, “WC Trophy impounded for tickets – Customs officers at Mumbai airport confiscated what they thought was the cricket World Cup trophy in a dispute over unpaid duty – officers were confused when they were told to keep the trophy until after the final, when the ICC would take it back to their headquarters in Dubai. They were unaware that there were two identical trophies and the other had been at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium for the last month awaiting the winning captain ”
Top industrialist Ratan Tata and corporate lobbyist Niira Radia were today quizzed by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in connection with alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation. Radia, whose tapped phone conversations with politicians, corporates, bureaucrats, and journalists form a key part of the investigations into the 2G spectrum scam, is believed to have told the Committee that some of the tapes of her purported talks were doctored.
Already drawing flak for South Africa’s early exit from the World Cup, outgoing cricket captain Graeme Smith has drawn more criticism for staying back in India even after the quarterfinal defeat to avoid paying income tax back home. Smith, currently in Ireland to visit his girlfriend pop star Morgan Deane, reportedly asked to stay on in India instead of facing the music with the rest of the side when it returned home last week.
Foreign investment in India rose by USD 22.7 billion in the quarter ending December 2010 to USD 628 billion, mainly on account of increase in portfolio investment and FDI. Total foreign fund inflows, including FDI, portfolio investment and external commercial borrowings (ECB), rose to USD 628.6 billion on December 31 from 605.9 billion during the end of September, according to RBI data.
The CBI on Saturday filed its first chargesheet in the 2G spectrum probe against former Telecom Minister A Raja and some of his close aides. The 80,000-page charge sheet alleges a loss of over Rs 30,000 crore rupees because of Raja’s lapses. Charges have been framed against former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja’s former private secretary R K Chandolia and Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa. Balwa’s partner Vinod Goenka, Sanjay Chandra of Unitech and Gautam Doshi of the Anil Dhirubai Ambani group have also been named.
From the desk of Chairman,CBDT- CIT wise details of AY10-11 paper refund Returns entered into the system but not processed is given herein below. These lists, however, do not give the true and complete picture of pending refunds, as the Systems does not have any visibility of paper refund Returns not entered onto the system. On the basis of the statistics available for earlier years, CBDT estimates the said paper refund Returns not entered onto the system so far at around 8 lacs, a large number of which pertain to Mumbai & Delhi. Today April 03 morning, CCITs (CCA) of Mumbai & Delhi have been sensitized by the Chairman personally about the need to issue all refunds by April 10 2011. All officers, especially those posted at Delhi & Mumbai, are once again advised to rise to the occasion & issue all refunds by this date.
Finance Ministry will soon come out with a discussion paper on service tax to increase its contribution to the overall tax kitty and align it with the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST). “The Finance Ministry is working on a discussion paper on taxation of services to get opinion and feedback before moving to GST,” a source told PTI.
