Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the largest life insurance institution in the world with more than 21 crore unique customers (holding more than 27 crore policies) has become a partner for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) by signing a Memorandum of Understanding to act as a Registrar for the delivery of the unique 12-digit Identity Numbers to the people of India. LIC is the first institution other than the State Governments to sign the MoU with UIDAI.
The new Companies Act promising more shareholder democracy and tighter governance norms for corporates is likely to be enacted this year, Corporate Affairs Secretary R Bandyopadhyay said today. “We are hopeful that the committee (parliamentary standing committee) will be giving its reports very quickly… Maybe in the monsoon session… and the ministry will take another two to three months. By the end of this year hopefully we will have a new Act,” Bandyopadhyay told reporters on the sidelines of a CII event here.
The Union Cabinet today approved the introduction of a Bill, the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010 to further amend the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and the Special Marriage Act, 1954, to provide therein irretrievable breakdown of marriage as a ground of divorce.
Close on the heels of Vodafone-Essar contesting a tax case in the Bombay High Court, tax sleuths have snared another multi-national company for tax evasion. This time, French pharma firm Sanofi Aventis, that acquired India’s Shantha Biotech last year, has been asked to pay Rs 650 crore as capital gains tax to the Indian government.
The Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, has asked the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to consider hiving off its technology-driven taxpayer services to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that could better deliver such services in the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.
“The sale of IML has increased in the last couple of years after the state banned the sale of country liquor like arrack and toddy. We are taking some stringent measures to curb the sale of illicit liquor in the state,” Renukacharya, minister for excise, said. Presently, there are 7,500 liquor shops operating in the state.
State governments stuck to their demands of higher threshold for central Goods and Services Tax and keeping local body taxes and electricity duty out of it, threatening the total implementation of what is touted as the biggest tax reform since independence.
Income Tax Welfare Fund with a Corpus of Rs.100 Crore Operationalised after 12 Years. Finance Minister asks CBDT to Address the Issue of Unwanted Litigation with Taxpayers and Realise Locked up Revenue in Appeals.
With the draft direct taxes code being criticised for its proposal to tax long-term savings among others, the finance ministry on Wednesday said a revised draft will be put for public comments within a month for addressing the concerns of all stakeholders.
The Bombay High Court today issued a stay order on the showcause notice sent by the Income Tax (I-T) Department to British telecom major Vodafone. The I-T Department had asked the company to pay Rs 12,000 crore as tax on its acquisition of a majority stake in Hutchison Essar Ltd in 2007. The court fixed July 8 for the next hearing.
