TAXATION UPDATES 12.02.2019

I-T DEPT PLANS E-ALLOCATION, VERIFICATION AND HEARING IN SCRUTINY OF RETURNS

Hoping to cut down harassment of taxpayers during verification and scrutiny of income-tax returns, the Tax Department hopes to introduce features including team-based assessment, video-conferencing and electronic review of orders, to ensure quality assessments and avoid high pitched tax demands The idea is to eliminate physical interface of the taxpayer with the income tax official, which is where the harassment begins. We plan to launch electronic allocation, verification and hearings and also e-review of orders, said a senior income tax official. The next step will be to set up central record keeping at the Centralised Processing Centre of the Income Tax Department in Bengaluru, along with re-engineered processes. A key feature of this will be to set up a strong back office with no public contact, he said, adding the functions of the Assessing Officer will be unbundled and given to various officers of a team. There will no specific jurisdiction for tax officials and an officer from any region may be given a case from any region by an automated process to ensure that there is no pressure to act or pay up on either of the two, he added. To avoid unnecessary litigation, the final order will also be reviewed by a team of experts before it is released to the assessee. At present, income tax returns are selected for scrutiny through a computer based system, while the notice to the taxpayer, the response of the taxpayer and the assessment order are all done electronically. Officials said a pilot project has already begun on the new system but could take as much as two years to fine-tune As many as two lakh taxpayers have already communicated through the portal last year.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

FINANCE MINISTRY SPENT RS 1,157 CRORE EXTRA IN 2017-18 WITHOUT OBTAINING PRIOR APPROVAL: CAG

The Ministry of Finance spent Rs 1,157 crore on various heads during 2017-18 without obtaining prior approval of Parliament the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in Parliament Tuesday said. Excess expenditure aggregating Rs 1,156.80 crore was incurred during 2017-18 without obtaining prior approval of Parliament, the CAG report 'Financial Audit' of the Accounts of the Union Government said. The report further noted that the Ministry of Finance did not devise a suitable mechanism in respect of new service/new instrument of service, which led to the extra spending. The Department of Economic Affairs under finance ministry failed to obtain legislative approval for augmenting provision (for extra expenditure), the report added. "As per the guidelines, any augmentation of provision by way of re-appropriation to the object heads (i) grants-in-aid (ii) subsidies (iii) major works attracts limitation of New Service (NS)/New Instrument of Service (NIS) and hence require prior approval of Parliament," CAG report said. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in its 83rd report had also taken serious view on cases of augmentation of provision of object head 'grants-in-aid' and 'subsidies'. PAC noted that these serious lapses are a pointer towards faulty budget estimation and deficient observances of financial rules by the ministries/ departments concerned. There is an imperative need on the part of the Ministry of Finance to devise an effective mechanism for imposing financial discipline on all the ministries/departments so as to avoid recurrence of such serious lapses, CAG report said. "Despite the PAC recommendations, Ministry of Finance had not devised a suitable mechanism as result of which, during 2017-18 in cases across 13 grants, there was excess expenditure over total authorisation aggregating to Rs 1,156.80 crore without obtaining approval of Parliament," as per the report.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

PIYUSH GOYAL'S INTERIM BUDGET PASSED BY LOK SABHA

Amid noisy protests by opposition party members, the 16th Lok Sabha on Monday approved the interim budget for 2019-20, its last one, setting the stage for Lok Sabha elections due by May. Replying to the debate in the Lok Sabha on the interim budget, Goyal rejected the opposition’s claim that he had presented a full budget It is not a full budget. I have not announced any new scheme for the next year. The PM-Kisan Yojana will be effective from 1 December and it is not a scheme for the next year, he said. Shashi Tharoor had alleged in his speech that the government for the first time presented a budget with retrospective effect so that the first cheque can be sent to the farmers in time before the election The farm crisis is serious but this is too little, too late, he said. Countering the allegation, Goyal said against the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments providing ₹52,000 crore in 10 years to farmers through farm loan waivers, the Narendra Modi government will provide them ₹7.5 trillion in 10 years. Some people are trying to belittle the scheme which will benefit 12.5 crore farmers. Does the Congress want to deprive the farmers? Goyal asked. Speaking on the government’s record of fiscal prudence, Goyal said while fiscal deficit under the UPA rose from 2.5% of GDP to 6.5% in one year, the Modi government brought it down from 4.5% of GDP to 3.4% in five years. Goyal said he could have shown fiscal deficit at 3.3% of GDP in 2018-19 as per the budget estimate by reducing expenditure by ₹5,000 crore. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi wanted an honest budget. So 3.367% was rounded off as 3.4% (of GDP) for 2018-19, he added.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

HONEST COMPANIES WON'T FACE ACTION: PIYUSH GOYAL

The government will ensure there is no action against honest companies that bring genuine money at a premium, interim finance minister Piyush Goyal said, assuring the startup community that they would not be unnecessarily targeted over the so-called angel tax. In his reply to the debate on the interim budget in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Goyal dismissed allegation of fiscal slippages, saying the budget has been very honest with numbers. The Lok Sabha later passed the interim budget for fiscal 2020 by voice vote, amid a walkout by the Congress, NCP and CPM members. Replying to a question on the budget not looking into the issue of angel tax, Goyal said the government would take measures to protect genuine investments that were brought in at a premium. Some startups have received notice under the so-called ‘angel tax’ where the share premium received in excess of the fair value was treated as income from other sources and taxed under a provision introduced under Section 56 to prevent money laundering. The government is taking hard steps to ensure that action is taken against bad companies, he said, adding that no action of any kind was taken against honest companies that had brought genuine money at a premium. We will protect honest people and give harshest punishment to the dishonest, he said, amid continuous shouting by some opposition members during his reply. Goyal dismissed the charge that the government had made important tax changes and policy announcement in the interim budget, even as he pointed to the tax proposals in the interim budget of FY15. They could not even wait four months and reduced tax on SUVs which farmer buys SUVs, he said, hitting out at the Congress that was in power at the time. The government has not changed any tax rate in the interim budget, he said. He said the fiscal deficit for FY19 came in at 3.367% of GDP in the interim budget, which on rounding off became 3.4%. The budget for the year had estimated the deficit at 3.3% of GDP. Goyal said if the government had reduced spending by just Rs 5,000 crore or raised revenue by that much, the 3.3% target would have been met. The government would not have had any difficulty in cutting spending by Rs 5,000 crore, Goyal said, adding that the Prime Minister wanted to present an ‘honest budget’ and asked for whatever figures came in to be presented to the country. Similarly, a Rs 1,500-crore reduction in FY20 would have reduced deficit to 3.3% of GDP against 3.4% provided in the budget, he said, presenting the government’s record on consolidation. He said the Narendra Modi government inherited a fiscal deficit of 4.5% that now improved to 3.4%. Goyal said the Modi government had taken a lot of initiatives in the past four-and-half years for the benefit of the poor, farmers and the middle class and the 2019-20 interim budget was a continuation of that. On the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, under which small farmers would be provided Rs 6,000 a year, Goyal said those living in palaces would never understand the importance of Rs 2,000 every four months and hence they belittle the scheme. The Congress party had said the amount was too little. Goyal said the scheme would cost Rs 75,000 crore in FY20 and Rs 20,000 crore in the ongoing fiscal year. In contrast, he said, the only benefit from the UPA government to the farmer in its 10 years was a Rs 52,000-crore loan waiver. Perhaps people (living) in big palaces with lot of inheritance, the namdaars won’t understand what this amount means for small and marginal farmers, he said.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

LOK SABHA PASSES INTERIM BUDGET

The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Interim Budget for the financial year 2019-20 after a day-long discussion. Finance Minister Piyush Goyal introduced the Appropriation Bill and the Finance Bill amid a din in the House by a voice vote The Bills were passed by voice vote after the Finance Minister's reply. Goyal said the government has worked for all sections of the society and has taken care of them in this budget. The poor, farmers and the middle-class are the government's priorities. Our government was the first to increase minimum support price (MSP) for farmers, Goyal said as his speech was interrupted by slogans from the Opposition benches.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

I-T SLEUTHS UNEARTH RS 20,000-CR HAWALA, MONEY LAUNDERING RACKET IN DELHI

The Income Tax Department on Monday claimed to have busted a nexus of hawala operators who were running a money laundering racket in the national capital estimated to be worth Rs 20,000 crore. Official sources in the department said a series of raids and surveys were conducted by sleuths of the Delhi investigation unit of the I-T Department over the last few weeks in different business areas of old Delhi. These operations led to unearthing of illegal financial activities by three groups of operators, a senior official said. A survey was conducted on one such group in the Naya Bazar area, that led to the detection of bogus billing of about Rs 18,000 crore. This group had floated a dozen bogus entities for providing fake bills, the official said. The identities of the accused were not disclosed by the department. In the second case, a highly organised money laundering racket has been unearthed where current transactions in well-known shares were fraudulently camouflaged as being sales of old shares held for years, the official said. He said this way, the beneficiaries have been found claiming bogus long-term capital gains. The taxman suspects the magnitude of this purported scam to be over Rs 1,000 crore. This figure appears to be the tip of the ice berg. This modus operandi has been found to be going on for many years, the official said. Preliminary estimates of such bogus exports is more than Rs 1,500 crore, the official said. The total amount of tax evasion detected is expected to be around Rs 20,000 crore, he said.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

IT DEPT SUMMONS DHFL TO EXPLAIN 'SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTIONS'

According to sources, The Income Tax Department has sent notice to DHFL under Section 131 of I-T Act to furnish books of accounts explaining certain suspicious transactions. Section 131 of the Income Tax Act empowers the income tax authorities to conduct inquiries. It provides powers to summon persons/witnesses, examine them under oath, compel production of books of account and documents, and issue commissions. A senior company official confirmed the development and said the notice has been received, the company is working on the details sought by the tax department and shall soon present its case in front of the taxman.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

DELAYED FILING OF RETURNS: RS 4,172 CRORE LATE FEE COLLECTED SINCE GST LAUNCH

A total of Rs 4,172.44 crore was collected by the government as late fee for delayed filing of various goods and services tax (GST) returns since the implementation of the indirect tax regime on July 1, 2017, till February 4, 2019, Finance Minstry data showed. GST-related laws provide for levy of late fee to discourage delayed filings of returns, the fee for which has been brought down for various categories during the course of implementation of the indirect tax regime. The collections under late fee are net of reversals. The fee for late filing of the returns is Rs 25 per day for Central GST (CGST) and an equal amount under State GST (SGST). However, those businesses who have to file returns but have ‘nil’ tax liability are required to pay a fine of Rs 10 under CGST law, and an equal amount under SGST law. While providing the data on mop-up from levy of late fee in reply to a query in Lok Sabha recently, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla, said: Late fee is levied u/s 47 of the CGST Act, 2017 on any registered person who fails to furnish returns by the due date at the rate of Rs100 every day during which such failure continues subject to maximum amount of Rs 5,000. As on December 27, 2018, 1,17,48,408 taxpayers were registered under GST which include 60,73,574 existing taxpayers who have migrated to GST and 56,74,834 newly registered taxpayers. While revenue from direct taxes are estimated to exceed the initial budget target by Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 12 lakh crore in 2018-19, the goods and services tax collections have fallen short of the budget target by Rs 1 lakh crore, with revised estimate for 2018-19 pegged at Rs 6.44 lakh crore, according to interim Budget 2019-20 presented on February 1.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

STAMP DUTY ON PROPERTY DEALS IN MUMBAI NOW RAISED TO 6 PER CENT

The state government on Tuesday issued a notification introducing an additional one per cent of stamp duty to be collected as surcharge on property transactions in Mumbai. The reasoning behind the move is the state needs funds to finance major infrastructure projects currently underway in the city, especially the Metro. The extra duty will be charged on all property deals from February 8. The stamp duty in Mumbai will now increase to six per cent of the property transaction amount, which means real estate will become even dearer in the city. The state expects to generate more than Rs 1,000 crore in this way. This revenue will be collected by the Stamps and Registration Department and passed on to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), via the Urban Development Department. A senior officer of the Stamps and Registration Department said the notification was issued on Monday and is effective from February 8. Hence, a recovery will be done for all documents registered on February 8.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

COMPUTER BASED EXAMINATION UNDER REGULATION 6 OF THE CUSTOMS BROKERS LICENSING REGULATIONS, 2018 (AS AMENDED)

Reference is invited to the Notice dated 27.04.2018 and Corrigendum dated 11.12.2018 inviting applications for the Customs Brokers Examination to be conducted by Directorate General of Performance Management. Vide Notification No.8/2019-Customs (N.T.) dated 6/2/2019 issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN) has been authorized to conduct said examination under Regulation 6 of the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018. The Examination shall be conducted on 15.03.2019 at designated Examination Centers across India. The examination will be a Computer Based Exam with Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) of 3 hours (10:30 -13:30) duration. There will be 150 questions of 2 marks each and to pass the exam, a candidate will be required to score minimum 180 marks. There will be no negative marking. The syllabus of examination will be as prescribed in Regulation No. 6 (7) of the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2018. Those qualifying in said examination will have to appear for oral examination in terms of Regulation 6 of said Regulations. A dummy Question paper for the purpose of awareness of candidates will also be made available on the CBIC and NACIN websites under the icon/tab , from 20thFebruary, 2019. A link to download the admit card will also be provided therein. Admit cards shall also be sent by email to applicants 15 days in advance before the date of examination.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

SECRETARY (ECONOMIC AFFAIRS) AS FINANCE SECRETARY DOESN’T DEAL WITH EXPENDITURE PROPOSALS

Shri Rajiv Mehrishi, joined Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance as Secretary on 31.10.2014. Being the senior most Secretary among the five Secretaries of the five Departments of the Ministry, viz. Economic Affairs, Expenditure, Financial Services, Revenue and Investment & Public Assets Management of Ministry of Finance, he was designated as the Finance Secretary on 11.11.2014. He continued as Secretary (Economic Affairs) & Finance Secretary till 31.08.2015 when he demitted office. It is a matter of convention that the senior most Secretary is designated as Finance Secretary and while he assumes a co-ordination role, he continues as Secretary of his own Department. It is pertinent to point-out here that it is the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance which deals with financial sanctions relating to all the Ministries of the Government of India and in that capacity, any files relating to defence procurement would be dealt with by the Secretary, Department of Expenditure and not by Shri Rajiv Mehrishi as Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs. To claim that Secretary (Economic Affairs) as Finance Secretary would have dealt with the expenditure proposals from the Ministry of Defence is totally a figment of imagination and stretch of facts.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

FEAR OF 'TAX TERRORISM' GONE DURING NDA RULE: JAYANT SINHA

Jayant Sinha on Monday said tax to GDP ratio rose and the fear of tax terrorism was gone during its tenure. Taking a dig at the UPA, he said earlier the development of country was at the pace of a cycle, but under the NDA government it was moving at the speed of an aeroplane or a rocket If the last four budgets were cakes, then this budget is the iceing on the cake, Sinha, who was earlier a junior minister in the ministry of finance, said. The minister said that there has been a change in the behavioural economics in the country. The tax to GDP ratio has increased from 10 per cent during the UPA rule to 12 per cent under our government, he said. Our taxation system has simplified and become more efficient. The fear of tax terrorism has gone, he said.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

23,779 HECTARES OF SEZ DEVELOPMENT LAND LYING VACANT: SURESH PRABHU

As much as 23,779 hectares of land marked for the development of special economic zones is lying vacant Parliament was informed Monday. In respect of 369 notified SEZs (including 7 central government SEZs and 11 State/Private Sector SEZs), 23,779.20 hectares of land is vacant in these SEZs as on 30.08.2017, Suresh Prabhu said. He said that land for setting up of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) is acquired by the state governments as per the policy and procedures of the respective states. The Board of Approval (BoA), chaired by the commerce secretary, for SEZs only considers proposals for setting up of new zones which have been duly recommended by the state government, he added. Exports from these SEZs grew by about 15 per cent to Rs 5.52 trillion in 2017-18.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

KARNATAKA BUDGET: FOCUS ON AGRARIAN ECONOMY, DUTY ON BEER HIKED

H D Kumaraswamy Friday proposed allocation of Rs 12,650 crore in the state 2019-2020 budget for the Congress-JDS coalition government's flagship crop loan waiver scheme. Aimed at striking urban-rural balance, Kumaraswamy, who has doled out several projects for Bengaluru, also increased additional exercise duty on beer, draught beer, beer manufactured in micro brewery and low alcoholic beverages. In 2019-20, a budget provision of Rs 6,500 crore for commercial bank crop loans and Rs 6,150 crore for co-operative bank crop loans has been made, Kumaraswamy said as members of the treasury benches welcomed it by thumping of desks. The co-operative loan waiver process is scheduled to be completed by June 2019, he said, adding that it is expectedthat the commercial bank loan waiver would also be completedduring fiscal 2019-20. During his coalition government's first budget Kumaraswamy, fulfilling his pre-election promise, had last year announced Rs 46,000 crore waiver of crop loans borrowed by nearly 42 lakh farmers. Kumaraswamy said, under the Loan Waiver scheme, Rs 5,450 crore has been released to about 12 lakh loan accounts of commercial banks. The government which plans to achieve the target of Rs 20,950 crore fixed for excise department for fiscal 2019-20, has proposed to increase excise duty on beer. I propose to increase additional excise duty on Beer from 150 per cent to 175 per cent, additional excise duty on draught beer from 115 per cent to 150 per cent, excise duty onbeer manufactured in Micro Brewery from existing Rs 5 per Bulk litre (BL) to Rs 10 per BL, and additional excise duty from existing Rs 12.50 per BL to Rs 25 per BL, Kumaraswamy said. A total grant of Rs 17,212 crore has been provided to Water Resources Department during 2019-20 in the budget that proposes for various irrigation schemes, tank filling projects, comprehensive developmental works, canal modernisation-development works, Bridge and Barrage construction works, among other things. One thousand Karnataka Public Schools will be established in Hobli headquarters in the next 4 years, Kumaraswamy said.Education will be provided underone roof from pre-primary level to the 12th class, he said.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

FAILED STUDENT HATES CLASS TOPPER: ARUN JAITLEY

Arun Jaitley, who returned a day ago from the US after undergoing treatment there, targeted Rahul Gandhi and said that the great-grandson of Pandit Nehru will be remembered for singularly damaging the institution of Parliament. He also blamed Rahul for starting several fake campaigns against the Modi government. Jaitley attacked Rahul solely and compared his personal hatred for Prime Minister Modi with that of a failed student who always hates the class topper, describing his speeches as more college-level lumpenisation in content. Jaitley's blog — attempting to discredit Rahul — comes a day before the expected tabling of the CAG report on Rafale deal in Parliament. Jaitley claimed that after Congress' false allegations of corruption in Rafale, industrial loans waiver, and against GST fizzled out, it resorted to shifting attack on the new ground that institutions are under pressure. Jaitley said, The glaring examples in this regard are the falsehood with regard to Judge Loya's death, the Rafale issue, the fake voter list scam in Madhya Pradesh and the Vyapam case. In each of the cases, the facts stated were found to be false.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

INDIA WILL BEAT US, BECOME WORLD’S SECOND LARGEST ECONOMY: MODI’S NEW VISION

With volatile oil prices in the past playing havoc on economies of importing nations like India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday made a strong case for a responsible pricing of crude oil that balances interests of both producers and consumers, saying people must have universal assess to clean, affordable and equitable supply of energy. he said the world for long has seen crude prices on a roller-coaster. For a nation dependent on imports to meet more than 80 per cent of its oil needs and half of its gas requirements, the volatility last October jacked up retail petrol and diesel prices to record highs. The same has led to natural gas not being used as a fuel in power plants despite it having enormous environmental advantage over polluting coal and liquid fuels. We need to move to responsible pricing which balances the interests of both the producer and consumer, he said. We also need to move towards transparent and flexible markets for both oil and gas. Only then can we serve the energy needs of humanity in an optimal manner. Modi said the challenge before nations is to deliver affordable, efficient, clean and assured energy supplies to their citizens. Suitably priced, stable and sustainable energy supply, is essential for rapid growth of the economy, he said, adding that it also helps the poor and deprived sections of society to partake of economic benefits. Oil and gas are not only a commodity of trade but also of necessity — whether it is for the kitchen of a common man or for an aircraft, energy is essential, he said. The Prime Minister said India is the fastest-growing large economy in the world and a recent report has estimated that it could be the second largest world economy by 2039. At present, India is the sixth-largest economy in the world and is the third-largest energy consumer in the world, with demand growing at more than five per cent annually. People must have universal access to clean, affordable, sustainable and equitable supply of energy, he said. Listing out his government’s achievements in the energy sector, he said electricity has reached all our rural areas and the target of 100 per cent electrification of households will be achieved this year. While electricity generation has been raised, effort is on to cut transmission and distribution losses. India’s World Bank Ease of Getting Electricity Ranking, improved from 111 in 2014 to 29 in 2018.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

HAD LOKPAL BEEN IMPLEMENTED, MODI WOULD BE 'NUMBER ONE ACCUSED' IN RAFALE: VEERAPPA MOILY

Claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have been number one accused in the Rafale issue had Lokpal been implemented the Congress on Monday said in Lok Sabha that his broad shoulders cannot stand the bullet of corruption. If anybody has to be held guilty in Rafale deal, it is the PM and PM alone, Veerappa Moily said. He alleged that the Rafale issue has become a household scandal and that Modi may escape his responsibility today but not in the days to come. While the defence budget saw only a paltry increase in absolute terms and the allocation to the sector as percentage of the GDP has gone down he alleged the ruling BJP is using money to buy MLAs, build palatial offices and filling its coffers. On the Rafale deal, in which the Congress has accused the government of corruption Moily said, Now it is crystal clear why Lokpal (law) is not being implemented If it had been in place, the PM would be number one accused. He was referring to the law on setting up anti-corruption ombudsman. Due to this guilty conscience, the Union government has been using investigative agencies against its rivals, he alleged. In an apparent reference to Modi's comments about his 56 -inch chest, Moily said, When bullet of corruption is hit, his broad shoulders cannot bear it. Moily on Monday also targeted the government over unemployment issue and accused it of fudging statistics. If the GDP is growing at 7.5 per cent, can it be without creating jobs, he said, adding according to latest NSSO estimate, the country's unemployment stood at a 45-year high. There is a job crisis, which they are not prepared to accept, Moily said. Moily alleged that the government has significantly reduced the budget for different programmes including for welfare of farmers and women. Now Rafael will fail and Rahul will win, he said, alleging the ruling government has no respect for Parliament and Constitution. He said the NDA government denied the legitimate support to Andhra Pradesh and did not grant it special status which was promised on the floor of Parliament. After demonetisation, Rs 2 lakh crore worth of GDP was lost, industrial output and MSMEs suffered and now the government will pay for the sin committed against poor people, he said. 40 per cent of Mudra funds are lying idle Mudra loans are leading to rising NPAs. In five years of this government, NPAs have risen from Rs 2 lakh crore to Rs 12 lakh crore. If you give then another five years, then the public sector banks will be wiped out or liquidated, he claimed. Moily said that the government is accumulating sin after sin. He also said that funds for 'Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao' have also decreased and it has been reduced to a slogan only as the amount was mainly spent on advertisements. It is only for PM bachao, he said, adding huge amounts were spent on media advertisement and on chosen channels. He also alleged that the government did not release the caste-based census as it is not interested in it.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

WHAT’S NEXT IN GST: CONSISTENT LAWS, CRACKDOWN ON EVADERS

We started with complex multirate structure, with five tax slabs — 1%, 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%. In November 2017, GST rate was slashed from 28% to 18% on over 170 items, followed by pruning of the list further in July 2018 and then in January of this year. While there are still few items (like cement), besides those contemplated initially, it’s only a matter of time that rate on these items will also come down to 18%. Structurally, this should also pave the way for simplification of the rate structure possibly from five slabs to possibly three over next couple of years, with likely convergence of 12% and 18% rate to a standard rate of 15% to 16%. Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) and Natural Gas may also come within the GST ambit and so can real estate, on which consensus seems to be emerging now.

Relief for home buyers

Real estate may be the only major sector where effective rate of tax has arguably gone up in GST. To address this issue, the government is apparently contemplating to reduce the GST rate to 5% (without input credit) or around 8% (with input credit) for property under construction. While reduction of rate without restricting input credit would certainly be better from policy standpoint, in either case, home buyers are likely to be benefited.

New compliance framework

The government has proposed to introduce new return filing system by April 2019. Under the new system, input tax credit available to businesses would only be limited to the extent it is reflected on the GST portal. Further, only one monthly return would be required, as against three monthly returns envisaged earlier. It is expected that the new return filing system shall be more efficient and businesses would be provided adequate time to undertake necessary IT related customisations without any disruption in their business operations.

Focus on dispute resolution

In its first 18 months, GST has witnessed fair bit of litigations already. Companies have approached courts on variety of issues, including transitional issues, input credits and advance rulings issued by various states. There have been instances where different states have taken varying positions on same issue in advance ruling issued. In the recent GST council meeting, a decision was taken to create a centralised body to address a scenario where such a situation arises. This process is likely to continue. However, it is important for the GST council to ensure that laws should be consistent across the states and exceptions such as allowing a state to impose a cess or to have a different threshold from others are avoided.

Tightening of tax administration

The GST collections have not been as buoyant as government expected. Substantial rate cuts and relief to small taxpayers mean that there would be pressure on exchequer. This would mean that larger businesses may be scrutinised with more rigour and the wealth of data, which is available to the government, may be used to check tax evasion.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

ANIL AMBANI REACHES SC IN RESPONSE TO CONTEMPT NOTICE FILED BY ERICSSON

Reliance Communication Ltd (RCom) Chairman Anil Ambani on Tuesday reached the Supreme Court to appear in court in connection with a contempt petition filed by Ericsson India against him over non-payment of dues. A bench headed by Justice R F Nariman had issued the contempt notices at the last hearing and sought his response on this within four weeks. RCom had tried to defuse the situation in court by offering through their counsels -- senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi –- to accept Rs 118 crore as outstanding dues owed to Ericsson India. This was being done to prove the company’s bono fides, it had said. Counsel appearing for Ericsson, however, refused to accept the part payment. Instead they insisted that the company pay the entire outstanding sum of Rs 550 crore at one go. The bench then directed RCom to deposit the demand draft of Rs 118 crore in the registry and called Ambani for a personal explanation. The court had then refused to exempt Ambani from personally appearing in court.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

CHANGE IN SHAREHOLDING DOES NOT LEAD TO CHANGE IN OWNERSHIP, AJL TELLS HC

Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), the publisher of National Herald, told the Delhi High Court on Monday that transfer of its majority shares to Young India (YI), in which Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are shareholders, would not make them the owners of its premises here which it has been asked to vacate. AJL, which has challenged a single judge order directing it to vacate the premises in the national capital, told a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao that even a 100 per cent shareholder of a company would not become the owner of its assets. The submission was made by senior advocate Abhishek M Singhvi, appearing for the publisher, who said it was a complete antithesis of company law to say that change in share holding of a company would lead to change in lessee of properties owned by it. Even a 100 per cent shareholder of a company does not become the owner of its assets, he argued in response to the main contention of the Centre that by changing share holding of AJL, YI clandestinely and surreptitiously transferred the ownership of the Herald building. The Centre, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, also argued that in the manner the shares were transferred, the court needs to pierce the corporate veil of AJL to see who owns the premises -- Herald House -- leased to it for running a printing press. The government also contended that the land in question was allocated to AJL on lease for printing press and this dominant purpose was stopped several years back. The bench was hearing arguments on AJL's appeal against a single judge's December 21, 2018 decision which had dismissed its plea challenging the Centre's order to vacate its premises. The court will hear further arguments in the matter on February 18.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

NAGESWARA RAO OFFERS UNCONDITIONAL APOLOGY TO SC FOR CBI OFFICER'S TRANSFER

M Nageswara Rao on Monday admitted that as interim chief of the CBI, he committed a mistake in transferring former joint director A K Sharma and apologised to the Supreme Court, saying he had no intention to circumvent its orders Rao, who filed an affidavit in response to a contempt notice issued to him on February 7, said he was praying for an unconditional and unqualified apology by the apex court. I sincerely realise my mistake and while tendering my unqualified and unconditional apology, I specially state I have not wilfully violated the order of this court as I cannot even dream of violating or circumventing order of this court, he wrote in the apology. The Supreme Court on February 7 came down heavily on the CBI for transferring Sharma, who was probing Bihar's shelter home cases, out of the agency in violation of the court's order and had directed Rao to personally appear before it on February 12. A Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi took serious note of violation of two earlier orders of the apex court and issued contempt notice to Rao for transferring Sharma to the CRPF on January 17 without taking prior permission from the court.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

DELHI HC UPHOLDS MISCONDUCT PROCEEDINGS AGAINST CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT FOR SEXUAL HARRASSMENT

The Delhi High Court has held that the Board of Discipline of ICAI has rightly proceeded against the chartered accountant for sexual harassment though the same was unrelated to professional work The petitioner, a Chartered Accountant challenged the order of the ICAI Board of Discipline wherein it was held that the petitioner was guilty of other misconduct falling within the meaning of Clause 2 of Part IV of the First Schedule to the Chartered Accountants Act. The petitioner contended that the allegations made against him have no bearing with him carrying on the profession as a Chartered Accountant and, therefore, the Board and/or ICAI would have no jurisdiction to entertain a complaint in this regard. Section 21A of the Act contains provisions for constitution of a Board of Discipline. Sub-section (3) of Section 21A provides that where the Board of Discipline is of the opinion that a member is guilty of professional or other misconduct as specified in the First Schedule, it shall afford to the member an opportunity of being heard and may, thereafter, take any one of the actions as specified therein. Section 21B of the Act contains provisions relating to the Disciplinary Committee. Analyzing Part IV of the First Schedule of the Act, the bench comprising Justice Vibhu Bhakru observed that it is apparent from the plain language of Part IV of the First Schedule to the Act, the expression other misconduct includes any conduct, which brings disrepute to the profession or the ICAI as a result of an action whether or not related to professional work. Thus, it is not necessary that the misconduct complained of should be conducted in the exercise of the profession of Chartered Accountancy. Any conduct, which tends to bring disrepute, would be a subject matter of proceedings under Chapter V of the Act, the Court said. Dismissing the petition, the Court observed that In view of the above, this Court is unable to accept the contention that the Board of Discipline does not have the jurisdiction to examine the alleged misconduct on the part of the petitioner. Clause (2) of Part-IV of the First Schedule to the Act is wide and would include within its scope, any conduct that would tend to bring disrepute to the profession or the Institute. If a Chartered Accountant is found to have been guilty in outraging the modesty of a woman and/or other offenses involving moral turpitude, it would not be inapposite for the Board of Discipline to also conclude that the conduct did, in fact, lower the dignity of the profession. In this view, this Court is not able to accept that the proceedings before the Board of Discipline are without jurisdiction.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

ILLIQUID OPTIONS FOR MONEY LAUNDERING: CRACKDOWN MAY NET A WINDFALL

The crackdown against use of illiquid stock options for money laundering could boost the cash reserve of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The regulatory probe involves over 9,000 entities including brokers, wealthy investors and promoters of several small companies and is expected to fetch over Rs 600 crore for the market regulator in fines. This is among the biggest crackdowns undertaken by Sebi since its inception, said two people privy to the development. Sebi has already served over 2,000 show cause notices to various investors while another 1,000 are expected before the end of the current fiscal. Sebi is planning to initiate regulatory action against others by November, said a source cited above. It has also passed final orders in about 90 such cases and in most of them the regulator has levied minimum fine in the range of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. The investigation pertains to use of stocks where options are thinly traded in the market to launder money. These investigations pertain to the period between 2015 and 2016 when the low volumes in derivatives of a stock exchange were exploited by investors. The investigations started when Rajeev Agrawal, erstwhile wholetime member (WTM) of Sebi, issued an ex-parte order against 59 entities in 2015 for misusing the stock exchange platform. This order had paved way for more investigations into such trading patterns. In some of the cases, the regulator also suspects that investors placed synchronized buy and sell orders in the same options within seconds from each other and also reversed their positions very fast creating artificial volumes in the scrip. In most of the cases, a minimum penalty of Rs 5 lakh is being levied, said Tomu Francis, partner, Khaitan & Co. Instead, Sebi perhaps should consider specifying a settlement scheme as permitted under the new regulations for such cases as it may significantly reduce the administrative burden.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

MONEY LAUNDERING PROBE: VADRA APPEARS BEFORE JAIPUR ED; PRIYANKA TAGS ALONG

Robert Vadra, Congress president Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law, and his mother Maureen appeared before the Enforcement Directorate at its zonal office in Jaipur in connection with a probe into an alleged land scam in the Rajasthan's border town of Bikaner. This is Vadra's fourth appearance before the agency and first in Jaipur.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

INDIA'S GOLD IMPORTS JUMP 64% IN JANUARY DESPITE PRICES HITTING 5-YEAR HIGH

Gold imports by India rose last month despite local prices trading near the highest in more than five years, as jewelers start to restock for the wedding season. Inbound shipments grew 64 per cent to 46 tons in January from a year earlier, according to a person familiar with the data, who asked not to be identified as the figures aren’t public. However, higher prices kept a lid on supplies, which were lower than the 60 tons shipped in December. The World Gold Council, a London-based promotion body, expects a recovery in demand in India this year on increased spending with elections due by May. Elections mean expenditure, which means redistribution of income, Managing Director for India P R Somasundaram said last month. Steps in this direction have already been seen by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s populist push in his final budget on Feb. 1 before the elections. The government will allocate Rs 750 billion ($10.6 billion) a year in a cash handout plan for about 120 million farmers and give taxpayers Rs 185 billion of tax relief in the year to March 2020.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

SUPREME COURT IMPOSES RS 1 LAKH FINE ON CBI INTERIM CHIEF NAGESHWAR RAO FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT

Supreme Court found former CBI interim chief Nageshwar Rao guilty of contempt of court for transferring the officer in charge of the Muzzafarpur shelter home case without consenting the apex court Rejecting Rao's unconditional apology, bench of Chief Justice of India imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh for contempt and asked him to sit in court till the court rises till four as punishment for their defiance of court orders. The court directed him to deposit within a week time. Former CBI interim chief and now additional director M. Nageswara Rao had submitted an unconditional apology to the court over his action. In an affidavit, he admitted that he should have taken the court’s permission before transferring the officer. He tendered an unconditional apology saying he would not even dream of violating court orders. I ought not have agreed with the legal advice for relieving AK Sharma even on his promotion without prior approval of Supreme Court, said Rao in his apology.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

MALLYA LOAN FRAUD CASE: AIR DECCAN FOUNDER GR GOPINATH UNDER LENS

GR Gopinath, founder of Deccan Aviation Ltd (DAL), is under the scanner of investigative agencies for his alleged role in the debt default by fugitive economic offender Vijay Mallya-founded Kingfisher Airlines, said people with knowledge of the matter. They are examining Gopinath’s part in signing the instruments through which the diversion of loans from State Bank of India was allegedly caused, they said. He is also said to be on the CBI’s radar for diversion of funds through Axis Bank accounts. Gopinath was a Kingfisher Airlines director when the said loans were disbursed. He joined the board after selling Air Deccan to Mallya in 2007. The agency is examining Gopinath with regard to a loan of Rs 340 crore sanctioned by SBI to Deccan Aviation. Gopinath had signed the instruments of diversion, as per the investigation. He was the authorised signatory for DAL. A payment of Rs 30 crore by Kingfisher Airlines to Gopinath in February 2008 is also being examined. That coincided with the release of Rs 29.96 crore by SBI to Kingfisher Airlines on February 1, 2008, said the people cited above. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office, had in a 2017 report, raised questions over payment of Rs 30 crore in non-compete fee to Gopinath without disclosing it to stakeholders or the high court. SFIO had reportedly recommended to the corporate affairs ministry that several people directly involved in the transaction be charged with offences such as criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI ACTED AS THE MIDDLEMAN OF ANIL AMBANI, DID TREASON: RAHUL GANDHI

Making another allegation against the Narendra Modi and government, Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister acted as the middleman of Anil Ambani in the Rafale deal Prime Minister has committed a crime by violating the Official Secrecy Act as he revealed the details of the Rafale deal to Anil Ambani before the actual signing of the deal between India and France, Congress President said while quoting a letter written by Airbus to Anil Ambani. Airbus executive wrote that Anil Ambani met the French Defence Minister and told him 10 days before the Rafale deal was signed that he was going to get it, Rahul said. This is treason. He is doing what spies do. He gave the secret to Anil Ambai 10 days before the deal, Rahul said. How come Anil Ambani knew about the deal 10 days prior to the signing of Rafale deal, he asked.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

MONSANTO WINS ARBITRATION RULING OVER ROYALTIES FROM INDIAN SEED MAKER NSL

German drugmaker Bayer AG's Monsanto unit has won proceedings against Indian seed maker Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd (NSL) in a royalty dispute, lawyers familiar with the matter said. Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) (MMB), a joint venture between Missouri-based Monsanto and India's Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co (Mahyco), has received a favourable award from the arbitration panel in the proceedings against NSL and Prabhat, a Bayer spokesman said in an e-mailed statement when asked about the ruling. He declined to say how much NSL and one of its affiliates, Prabhat Agri Biotech Ltd, had been told to pay MMB. By Monsanto's calculations, NSL and its two affiliates owed about $22.82 million to MMB. NSL said the arbitration tribunal had directed both parties to maintain the confidentiality of proceedings and they were not allowed to make public statements. NSL has the right to appeal the arbitration ruling in a court, the lawyers said.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

CBI MAY EXAMINE RAJEEV KUMAR FOR FOUR MORE DAYS

With Rajeev Kumar, the commissioner of Kolkata Police, being interrogated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the third consecutive day on Monday and the West Bengal government being directed by the ministry of home affairs to start departmental proceedings against its top five IPS officials, Mamata Banerjee’s government seems to be in the middle of an unprecedented crisis. The five top cops against whom action is sought are director general of police, additional director general of police (law and order), commissioner of Kolkata Police, director of chief minister’s security, and commissioner of Bidhannagar (Salt Lake). Kumar is likely to be questioned by the CBI for three to four more days, said sources aware of the developments. In the past three days, the commissioner was questioned for almost 26 hours which included a joint interrogation session for at least three hours with former Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh. Ghosh has been served a two-year jail term and is now out on bail. He was arrested in connection with the chit fund scam case. After almost 11 hours of grilling, Kumar came out of the CBI office at around 10.45 pm on Sunday and had been asked to appear again on Monday for the third consecutive day. According to sources, Kumar has even been questioned about cases registered in other states.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

CAG REPORT ON RAFALE: HOW CONGRESS MADE A U-TURN

It seems the Congress party has made an about turn on its stand on the Rafale jet deal report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). Earlier it wanted the CAG to give the report as soon as possible but now says he should recuse himself as he has a conflict of interest. The Congress is demanding that CAG Rajiv Mehrishi should recuse himself from auditing and submitting a report on the Rafale deal due to a conflict of interest. The party said that Mehrishi, as the then Union finance secretary, was part of the Narendra Modi government’s internal negotiations. Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and former Union law minister Kapil Sibal on Sunday placed this demand to Mehrishi in an official memorandum. The Congress move comes amid indications that the CAG may give its report on the deal in a few days. However, a few months ago the Congress wanted the CAG to present his report, and fast. We have given a detailed memorandum along with enclosures on the irregularities and acts of omission and commission by the Government in the fighter jet deal. We expect the CAG will prepare a report soon and present it before Parliament, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma told. Far from citing any conflict of interest and asking him to recuse, the Congress even submitted some evidence to the CAG. Again in October, the Congress urged the CAG to carry out a forensic audit of the Rafale fighter jet deal and bring all facts on record to enable Parliament to fix accountability for the alleged scam in the contract. The party leaders presented a memorandum to him along with fresh documents. Quite contrary to its present stand, the party said in its memorandum that the CAG being a constitutional body must audit the deal. It is expected that the CAG which has a Constitutional mandate and authority to scrutinize every document, in this case including original tender, understanding reached between Dassault and HAL and the arbitrary decision of the Prime Minister without any mandate from Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will undertake a forensic audit, the memorandum said. Now the Congress does not want to the same CAG Rajiv Mehrishi, to present an audit report on Rafale deal Congress leader Kapil Sibal said in a press conference, Mehrishi was officially associated with the Modi government’s internal negotiations on the Rafale deal. If he audits and submits a report as CAG, it would mean that Mehrishi is trying to save himself and the government from the corruption in the Rafale aircraft deal. The cardinal principle of law is that no one should be a judge in his own case.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

VVIP CHOPPER CASE: COURT ORDERS IN-CAMERA PROCEEDINGS FOR RAJEEV SAXENA

The Enforcement Directorate did not seek any further custody of Rajeev Saxena, arrested in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland money laundering case, from a Delhi court on Tuesday. Saxena, whose ED custody ends Tuesday, sought to talk to Special Judge Arvind Kumar in private, without the presence of his lawyers, after which the court initiated in-camera proceedings in the case. On Friday, the agency had sought his custody from the court, saying the probe is at a crucial stage. Saxena is one of the accused named in the chargesheet filed by ED in the case.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

ROBERT VADRA, MOTHER TO APPEAR BEFORE ED IN JAIPUR IN BIKANER CASE PROBE

Robert Vadra, is expected to make a fresh appearance before the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday in Jaipur in connection with a probe into an alleged land scam in the Rajasthan's border town of Bikaner, officials said Monday. Vadra's mother Maureen is also likely to appear before the central probe agency at about 10 AM at its zonal office on Bhawani Singh Road in Jaipur Tuesday. The duo landed at Jaipur airport on Monday noon. This will be the fourth time that Vadra appears before the agency. The Tuesday's appearance before the ED in Jaipur is directed by the Rajasthan High Court which asked Vadra and his mother to cooperate with the agency after they approached it seeking directions that no coercive action is taken against them by the agency. The agency was also probing the role of a big steel firm that gave loans to a company that bought the land from firms linked to Vadra at a very inflated price, official sources said.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

DO NOT POLITICISE CBI'S PONZI SCAM PROBE, KUNAL GHOSH URGES PARTIES

Former Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh, an accused in the Saradha chit fund cases, Monday urged political parties not to politicise the CBI probe into the ponzi scam. In a Facebook post on Monday morning, Ghosh also said the CBI should have questioned Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajetev Kumar long ago. Ghosh, along with Kumar, is presently in Shillong for questioning by the CBI in the Saradha chit fund scam. I request all political parties not to politicise the matter. The steps that are being taken now for the sake of investigation should have been taken long back - during the time of investigation by the SIT set up by the West Bengal government. Unfortunately, it did not happen. However, better late than never, he wrote. As far as the investigation is concerned, Ghosh said, a lot of precious time has been lost as neither the CBI nor the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has not taken these steps earlier. Neither the CBI nor any other investigating agency is above criticism. But it will not be wise to bring up those issues and create hurdles in the path of investigation of such a huge scam. The CBI should be allowed to perform its duty, Ghosh said in the post.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

KOLKATA POLICE CHIEF, EX-MP APPEAR BEFORE CBI FOR QUESTIONING IN SHILLONG

Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar and former Trinamool Congress MP Kunal Ghosh on Monday appeared before the CBI here for questioning in connection with investigations in chit fund cases. This is the third day of grilling for Kumar and the second for Ghosh. Ghosh arrived at the CBI office here shortly after 10 am while Kumar reached an hour later, an official told. On Sunday, the probe agency questioned Kumar separately and also along with Ghosh. The marathon questioning of the two lasted over eight hours, he sauid. The former Trinamool Congress MP was arrested in 2013 in the Saradha ponzi scam and has been out on bail since 2016. The CBI is questioning the two in accordance with directions of the Supreme Court.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

HD KUMARASWAMY ANNOUNCES SIT PROBE INTO AUDIO CLIP ROW

H D Kumaraswamy on Monday announced a comprehensive SIT probe to bring out the truth after an audio clip he released showed state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa in a purported conversation to lure a JD (S) MLA. Kumaraswamy made the announcement in the state assembly after Speaker Ramesh Kumar suggested a special investigation team probe the episode to establish the truth as his name has also been dragged into the row. Constitute an SIT to establish the truth. Give me relief in 15 days, a visibly anguished Kumar said, urging Kumaraswamy, after all members said the speaker was known for his integrity and dignity of his office should be protected. Kumaraswamy said he was also pained at the charge against the speaker and accepted his suggestion to form an SIT. I seek your permission to form the SIT for a comprehensive probe to bring out the truth, he told the speaker.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

JAIPUR MUNICIPAL CORPORATION TO START SPECIAL DRIVE TO COLLECT URBAN DEVELOPMENT TAX

The Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) is lagging behind in revenue collection first due to the recent Assembly elections and secondly because of internal politics. In the current financial year, the municipal corporation has recovered only Rs 27 crore from Urban Development (UD) Tax while the UD Tax recovery was fixed at Rs 250 crores in the 2018-19 budget. In the past one year, the JMC has not sold any land and as a result it has not made any money through land sales. There is only one-and-a-half month’s time left for the JMC now to complete the current financial year 2018-19. In such a situation, the JMC will strictly start action to recover the tax from the defaulters in the city so as to raise maximum revenue. The JMC has prepared a list of nearly 2,000 big defaulters of UD Tax Action to attach the properties of these defaulters will be initiated soon, said sources. According to sources, there are about 900 defaulters who have to pay amount worth Rs 5 lakh and above. Whereas, there are about 1,100 defaulters having Rs 3-5 lakh as outstanding UD Tax.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

PROGRESS IN PRODUCTION OF TEJAS AIRCRAFT

Two contracts were signed between Indian Air Force (IAF) and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., (HAL) for procurement of (i) 20 Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) standard aircraft (16 IOC fighters and 4 IOC trainers) on 31st March 2006 to be completed by December 2011 and (ii) 20 Final Operational Clearance (FOC) standard aircraft (16 FOC fighters and 4 FOC trainers) on 23rd December 2010 to be completed by December 2016. At the time of placement of IOC order in 2006, it was expected that Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), who is the Programme Management Agency will obtain IOC in 2008 after which delivery was planned till December 2011. However, IOC has been achieved by ADA in December 2013 that too only for 16 fighter version IOC aircraft, after which only, HAL could take up production and first IOC fighter aircraft was delivered in 2016-17. Till date, out of total 16 IOC fighter aircraft, 12 fighters have been delivered to IAF. HAL plans to deliver the balance 4 IOC fighter aircrafts by March, 2019. ADA has handed over Drawing Applicability List (DAL) and Equipment Standard of Preparation (SOP) documents, for FOC configuration to HAL on 31st December, 2018 duly cleared by centre of Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) to go ahead with the production of FOC fighter aircraft. Accordingly HAL has taken up the production of LCA, FOC fighter aircraft. The production of 8 trainer aircraft (4 each in IOC &FOC contracts) would be taken up only after design clearance from ADA.In order to fast track the delivery of LCATejas, the following steps have been taken:-

•For ramping up production capacity from existing 8 aircraft to 16 aircraft per annum, Government of India (GoI) has sanctioned Rs.1381.04 Crore in March, 2017.

•Establishment of second line for structural and equipping activities at Aircraft Division, HAL.

•Increased the number of jigs for Front Fuselage, Centre Fuselage, Rear Fuselage, Wings & various sub-assemblies and established contracts for outsourcing to private partners.

•Reduction in manufacturing cycle time through improved supply chain management, learning and augmentation of manpower.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

MODERNISATION OF ARMY EQUIPMENTS

The authorisation and holding of army’s equipments is as per operational requirement of the Indian Army. Modernisation of the Armed Forces is a continuous process undertaken to keep the Forces in a state of readiness to meet operational and security challenges. The modernisation projects are progressed as per approval of Services Capital Acquisition Plans and Annual Acquisition Plans in terms of extant Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP). Based on the allocation of funds under Budget Estimates / Supplementary / Revised Estimates, sufficient funds are made available to meet the critical requirements of Services including Army. The allocated funds are optimally and fully utilised towards operational activities. DPP-2016 focuses on institutionalizing, streamlining and simplifying defence procurement procedure to give boost to ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Government, by promoting indigenous design, development and manufacturing of defence equipment, platforms, systems and sub-systems. During the last three years and current year (up to October, 2018), 121 contracts have been signed with the Indian vendors.

 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___

ENCROACHMENT OF DEFENCE LANDS

In cases of illegal transfer based on the nature and circumstances of the case, FIRs / criminal cases have been filed against the sellers / purchasers, Courts have been approached to set aside such transactions Competent Revenue authorities have also been approached for not effecting mutation of such transactions. Such transactions are not recognised and no mutation in defence land records are effected To prevent such incidences in future, the following steps are taken:-

·       The defence land across the country has been surveyed by Defence Estates Officers and Chief Executive Officers so as to clearly demarcate defence land to enable Services / Users to physically protect it.

·       Matter has been taken up with the State Governments vigorously at all levels to mutate remaining defence land in the revenue records.

·       Suggestions have been made by the Ministry to the Department of Land Resources for amending the Registration Act so as to make it mandatory for the Sub-Registrar to obtain ‘NOC’ from defence authorities prior to effecting registration of land located in Cantonments / Military Stations.

·       Wherever such incidence is reported, immediate legal action is taken to protect the interest of Government.

·       Computerisation of defence Land records contained in General Land Registers (GLRs) and Military Land Registers (MLRs) with the use of RakshaBhoomi Software.

·       Strengthening of defence land management by way of digitisation of land records, survey, demarcation and verification of defence lands and land Audit.

·       The computerization of defence land records under the project ‘RakshaBhoomi’ was undertaken by the Directorate General of Defence Estates in association with National Informatics Centre. Defence Land Records contained in General Land Registers (GLRs) and Military Land Registers (MLRs) were entered in the RakshaBhoomi Software and made operational after verification and authentication of database in July, 2011.

#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.




Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya