TAXATION UPDATES 20.04.2019

TO WIDEN TAX BASE, GOVT MAY TWEAK FOREIGN TAXATION RULES

India is set to revamp its foreign taxation norms in the upcoming direct tax code to widen its corporate tax base and prevent other nations from taking a bigger chunk of profits their multinational companies earn in India. A government task force is studying the Income Tax Act to identify provisions that need to change and propose amendments an official aware of the matter said. The new norms will apply to profits of foreign companies in India, as well as that of Indian companies abroad. The task force is expected to make its recommendations by the end of May, after which a public consultation for legislative work on the new tax code will start. The move could reset the balance of taxation powers between India and developed nations with respect to cross-border investments. It could also necessitate business strategy changes by both Indian firms investing abroad and non-resident companies doing business in India without a subsidiary. This assumes significance in the wake of US having in late 2017 enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act under which taxes accumulated on un-repatriated foreign earnings of US companies were treated as ‘deemed dividend’. This tax is applicable whether or not the US shareholder of the foreign firm has received the dividend. We are reviewing global taxation provisions in the Income Tax Act. Globally, every country wants to protect its tax base. However, developed countries and developing nations do it in different ways. Developed countries are net exporters of capital and technology while developing countries are net importers. The US, for example, wants to tax profits of its firms that are generated in other markets while India wants to tax as much of the profits here, said the official mentioned above who is also aware of the discussions in the task force, on condition of anonymity. The move to revamp foreign taxation norms could strengthen tax provisions relating to foreign companies accessing Indian markets as well as Indian companies with global operations, but keep profits outside the country, said experts. The idea is to make sure every business pays its fair share of tax, said Girish Vanvari, founder of advisory firm Transaction Square. Non-resident firms with operations in India other than in the form of a subsidiary are now subject to a 40% tax on their profits attributable to India. The focus is on ensuring that the profits attributable to India are in line with the actual margins they earn from Indian operations.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

CBDT IDENTIFIES 20.4 MILLION NON-FILERS, ASKS I-T DEPT TO TAKE ACTION

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has directed the Income-Tax Department to initiate penalty proceedings by June 30 against non-filers and ‘drop filers’ of tax returns. According to the non-filer monitoring system (NMS) of the I-T department, data for 20.4 million non-filers has been obtained between 2013 and 2017, of which 2.5 million are those who are inconsistent — popularly known as ‘dropped filers’. We are issuing notices in all the non-filer/dropped filer cases across the country, and proceedings shall be initiated accordingly in the relevant cases, said an assessing officer. Typically, the penalty for non-filing is pursued under Section 271F of the Income Tax Act, and that for late filing under Section 234. If an assessee files returns after the due date of August 31 but before December 31, it will attract a penalty of Rs 5,000. For those who file returns after December 31, the penalty rises to Rs 10,000. However, there is an exemption for small taxpayers — if the total income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh per annum, the maximum penalty will be Rs 1,000. The tax department has initiated action based on the NMS database, which has identified such non-filers and dropped filers. The said data has been shared with assessing officers. This information may be acted upon as efficiently as possible to widen the tax base, said the officer cited above. The NMS data shows a sharp increase in non-filers since 2013. In 2014, the number of non-filers was 1.22 million, which surged to 6.75 million in 2015. The number of dropped filers in FY18 stood at 2.52 million, down from 2.83 million in FY17. If the existing database is acted upon, coupled with optimum tax administration, and if legislative impetus — such as periodical review of provisions related to exemption, deductions, tax incentives, tax collection from the third parties, and taxing new areas such as digital economy — is provided, there will be considerable increase in the tax base, said a senior tax official. An assessing officer can initiate proceedings for prosecution from three months to two years, along with a fine. The period could be extended if the taxable income exceeds Rs 25 lakh.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

CBDT'S TAXATION PROPOSAL TO HIT LOSS-MAKING FOREIGN COMPANIES: EXPERTS

According to proposals, as contained in the draft report released for public consultation, for companies with global losses or global profit margin of less than 2 per cent the Indian profits would be deemed to be 2 per cent of the revenue or turnover This, tax experts argue, is an incorrect way of taxation and could impact multinational companies engaged in projects with a long gestation period, say the infrastructure sector, for instance. This will impact several PEs. Assuming that if MNCs are continuing with Indian operations in spite of losses, the proposal to treat it as higher profits is not correct, said Amit Maheshwari. The continuation of Indian operations justifies the presumption of higher profitability of Indian operations, and in such cases, a provision that deems profits of Indian operations at 2 per cent of the revenue or turnover derived from India should be introduced, the report, by a committee appointed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), said. The CBDT committee proposed to change the methodology for taxing multinational companies, including digital firms, with PE in India, by giving weight to domestic sales, employee strength, assets, and user base. Amit Singhania, said the approach by CBDT considered the Supreme Court judgment in the Morgan Stanley case, which said if the Indian subsidiary had already been compensated at arms’ length, then no further attribution was to be made to PE in terms of profits. However, computationally, the report provides for increase in attribution of profits and hence, further attribution may be required, Singhania added. In case of digital companies, the weight will be on additional fourth criteria of user base, the report said. Maheshwari suggested that the methodology may be flawed as, although these digital companies such as LinkedIn, Gmail etc, do have a high user base in India, the revenue generation from users is quite low.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

CIRCULAR TRADING & GST EVASION CHARGES: TAXMAN MAY HAVE TO REVIEW ARREST STRATEGY

The indirect tax department that had arrested many promoters for circular trading and escaping goods and services tax may have to rethink its strategy after the Mumbai High Court granted bail to many of them. The arrests came after the indirect tax department issued notices in February this year and raided premises of several companies for allegedly inflating turnover through fake invoices to shell companies. People close to the development said that several promoters then approached the criminal bench of the Bombay High Court which granted them bail and sought an explanation from the department. Bail was granted to different people in the past few weeks. Some industry observers suspect that circular trading may be used to inflate turnover or for bringing in black money to system. This is clearly premature as determination of actual tax liability exercise is not carried out prior to arrest. This amounts to clear contempt of binding judgements. Meanwhile, a battery of lawyers are looking at challenging a particular section of the GST law that gives arresting powers to the taxman, people in the know said. A separate petition in this regard could be filed in the coming weeks, they said.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

CAS’ HELP VITAL FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF GST, SAYS PIYUSH GOYAL

CAs and Government departments should work hand in hand for the development of the country, said CA Piyush Goyal. The potential of CAs, duly recognised in ensuring financial discipline in Government departments, would give more strength to status of CAs as partners in nation building. GST was the most challenging task to be implemented in a country with vivid classes like India. Many countries in entire world failed to implement GST smoothly. But in India, credit goes to chartered accountants fraternity for guiding and ensuring proper implementation in a short span of time, he said. Goyal also explained Governments’ stand on GST and said he was hopeful that all tax problems of trade and industry would be resolved in due course of time. He expressed satisfaction about the support given by trade and industry and role of chartered accountants. CA Piyush Goyal, who himself was a ranker in CA exams, also addressed a section of CA students where he motivated them to inculcate values like honesty, transparency and integrity with an attitude of serving our motherland in any capacity. He said that most of the exams can be cleared with positive mindset and commitment. CA Suren said that CAs were excelling in all fields and elaborated remarkable work done by chartered accountants in other fields like politics, police department, bureaucracy. Chairman appraised about the issues faced by the assesee in GST implementation to which Goyal addressed point-wise. Duragkar also raised the issue in transparency in allotment of audit in banking and other sectors. He emphasised on audit of Government local bodies, Railways, etc., to which Goyal gave due consideration and assured implementation of various suggestions in this regard. CA Abhijit Kelkar, said, It is privilege for Nagpur Branch that CA Piyush Goyal himself visited Nagpur Branch and showed the humbleness of Union Minister towards his fraternity. CAs can prove to be an asset for Government of India if their services are utilised in Government sectors.

 __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

TOP 10 LOC TRADERS UNDER FINANCE MINISTRY PROBE

The Union finance ministry has initiated an inquiry against businesses engaged in trade across the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir under the GST Act and has sought details from the state government about the goods sent and received since 2017. The details were sought in March about top ten traders, following which the Union home ministry suspended the trade till stringent measures are taken to monitor the trade. The stringent measures include installation of full-body truck scanners, which officials said may take several months. According to the finance ministry order, details were sought under Section 70 of the CGST Act by April 15. Traders of both Salamabad of Uri and Chakan Da Bagh in Poonch are under the scanner. Around 280 traders who were directly involved in the trading will be affected after the suspension of the business, which has touched ?6,900 crore since its inception in 2008. Traders said that they were with the government on making it a fool-proof trade and that they also wanted to be treated as dignified businessmen rather than a group of people involved in some suspicious activity. We want that there should be proper banking system for the trade and everything should be streamlined. But we should have been given some time as we have suffered huge losses as many trading items are in transit, said Hilal Turkey.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

FORMER CEO OF IL&FS FIN SENT TO JUDICIAL CUSTODY

Former IL&FS Financial Services MD & CEO Ramesh Bawa has been sent to judicial custody by a magistrate in Mumbai. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) had arrested him last week for ever-greening companies with fraudulent funding for performance-linked perks. The SFIO produced Bawa, whose custody it had for four days, before a magistrate in Bandra here. SFIO special counsel H S Venegaonkar said that investigations were still on but sought his remand in judicial custody, where SFIO officers will have no access to Bawa for interrogation. SFIO, the government agency, is investigating IL&FS for all its decorative transactions, Venegaonkar had said earlier, adding that Bawa was responsible as a sanctioning authority in many of the company’s committees for financial services. Bawa stepped down as CEO of the financial services arm in September 2018 after the government-appointed board took charge of the parent company. Apart from SFIO, the enforcement directorate (ED) is also probing a money-laundering case against IL&FS Rail, IL&FS Transportation Networks and former senior executives of these companies.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

CREDIT SQUEEZE, GST HICCUPS DENT INDIA'S GEMS AND JEWELLERY EXPORTS IN FY19

India’s gems and jewellery exports declined by 3.12 per cent for the financial year (FY) 2018-19 due to credit crunch, inordinate delay in GST (goods and services tax) refund resulting into blockage of available working capital and high import duty on polished diamond. Industry captains don’t see improvement in export in FY20 either. The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) showed total gross gems and jewellery exports from India at $39.68 billion for financial year 2018-19, compared to $40.96 billion for the previous year. Total gross cut and polished diamond exports from India, however, remained stable at $23.82 billion during FY 2018-19 versus $23.72 billion for the previous year. The decline in India’s gems and jewellery exports assumes significance, as it is a labour intensive industry that contributes around 13 per cent of country’s total merchandise exports. After the $2 billion Nirav Modi-Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam broke out in January 2018, the entire jewellery industry has been facing a liquidity crisis, with lenders tightening provisioning and sanction of fund. India’s gems and jewellery exporters are facing a number of problems which need to be addressed immediately. He isn't very optimistic for FY20 either, and estimates there could be a marginal drop in exports again. Another problem that hit exports is the delay in GST refund which not only blocks working capital, but also requires repeated efforts for the claim. GJEPC data showed gold jewellery exports from SEZs and EOUs surged 24.36 per cent to $12.03 billion, from $9.67 billion the previous year. While jewellers are ready to pay gold import duty of 10 per cent and GST of three per cent, other cesses applicable for selling gems and jewellery from these special export centric zones to the domestic markets should be abolished. We have already submitted recommendations to the concerned ministry but still awaiting a favourable result, said Shah.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

JET AIRWAYS IN TALKS WITH IATA TO CLEAR CUSTOMERS’ REFUNDS

Jet Airways is in talks with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to clear some refunds from the money still saved in the billing and settlement plan (BSP) account, a person in the know said on Friday. The global lobbying body on Thursday suspended all ticketing activities and transactions of Jet Airways via its clearing house, which effectively means no Jet ticket can be issued by travel agents and thousands of passengers whose tickets have been cancelled will have to wait indefinitely for refunds. In the BSP procedure, an agent sells a ticket to a customer. The sale is done through a global distribution system, a digital tool that manages inventory. Every seven days an agent makes a lump-sum payment of money from tickets sold into the BSP account which then goes to the airline. In case of a refund, a request is raised and approved by the airline and the money goes to the customer via the same GDS. The airline has money from forward sales of tickets in the BSP account. Those can be released although they cover only a part of refunds. Jet is hoping IATA issues a clarification to agents on this on Monday, said the person cited above. This meant travel agents would immediately suspend all ticketing activities on behalf of Jet Airways, including the use of all automated systems for processing of refunds or other credit/debit transactions on behalf of the airline.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

GOVT WORKING TO DIRECTLY TRANSFER FERTILISER SUBSIDY TO FARMERS

After the direct benefit transfer (DBT) of fertiliser subsidies to producers, the government is working on its next goal: Transferring these subsidies directly to the bank accounts of farmers. The finance ministry and NITI Aayog are working on a proposal to shift DBT in fertiliser from the producer to the consumer This will be placed before the political dispensation in power after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The plan is that fertiliser subsides along with the PM Kisan deposits will become sort of a targeted quasi-universal basic income for farmers. To start with, we will use the PM Kisan database and provide fertiliser subsidies directly to the accounts of only small and marginal farmers, said an official, aware of the matter.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

VIJAY MALLYA ACCUSES SBI OF WASTING INDIAN TAXPAYERS’ MONEY ON UK LEGAL FEES

Vijay Mallya once again used social media to reiterate his offer to pay back the debt owed to public sector banks in India, targeting this time the State Bank of India (SBI) for allegedly wasting Indian taxpayers’ money on expensive legal fees in the UK. UK High Court judge refused to dismiss an interim order freezing nearly 260,000 pounds in one of his London bank accounts, the 63-year-old issued a string of statements on Twitter to allege that the SBI led consortium of PSU banks were wrongly going after him in the UK courts. SBI Lawyers in UK making presentations on their accomplishments against me. Indian Tax payers cost. Despite full recovery in India confirmed by the Prime Minister himself, he tweeted on Friday. His statements were illustrated with a series of document screenshots showing TLT LLP, the banks’ law firm, hailing its victory in the 1.142 billion pounds worldwide freezing order judgment in their favour last May. SBI UK Lawyers in self-promotion at Indian public cost. SBI must answer, reads Mallya's tweet. In his characteristic style, the media was once again at the receiving end of the former Kingfisher Airlines boss’ social media comments. He noted: Whilst media love sensational headlines, why doesn’t anybody ask the PSU State Bank of India under RTI [Right to Information] on how much they are spending on legal fees trying to recover money from me in the UK when I have offered 100 per cent payback in India. To substantiate my point, assets belonging to me in the UK were sold and the costs of sale were almost 50 per cent of value. The remaining assets yet to be sold won’t cover legal costs. So what’s this all about? To enrich UK Lawyers? SBI please answer.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

SUSHMA SWARAJ ASKS INDIANS STRANDED IN TRIPOLI TO LEAVE IMMEDIATELY

As Libya's capital Tripoli continues to be hit by violence, Sushma Swaraj on Friday said that over 500 Indians are stuck there and suggested that they leave the city immediately The minister said that if the Indians stranded in the Libyan capital do not leave immediately, then it may not be possible to evacuate them later. Over 200 people were killed in Tripoli in the last two weeks since renegade Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar's troops launched a strike to oust UN-backed Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj from power. Swaraj tweeted, Even after massive evacuation from Libya and the travel ban, there are over 500 Indian nationals in Tripoli. The situation in Tripoli is deteriorating fast. Presently, flights are operational.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

INDIA INC BREAKS UNWRITTEN RULE, LENDS VOICE TO CAMPAIGN

Public endorsement of a Lok Sabha candidate by two of India’s leading corporate barons have raised eyebrows in the midst of an acrimonious political contest Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani and Kotak Mahindra Bank vice-chairman and managing director Uday Kotak’s presence in a campaign video for the Congress aspirant in the prestigious Mumbai South constituency is a first of sorts. Businessmen in India have traditionally avoided wading into politics or making political statements, preferring to wait for one side to emerge victorious before voicing approval for their views or policies. Industry bodies would always take a pro-administration stance once a political party was elected to power. Ambani and Kotak have unequivocally backed Deora in his fight against Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant and cited his knowledge of the constituency and his connection to Mumbai as the reasons. Neither mentioned the party that Deora represents in their statements, making it clear that their support was specific to the individual and was based on his personal track record. Deora’s tweet of the video which showed entrepreneurs ranging from small traders to those in the bulge-bracket went viral. Sawant, who has always projected himself as a working class champion, chose to play down the endorsements for Deora by saying that he being the incumbent was both a class and mass leader. But the fact that two leading businessmen from a constituency with a fair share of the country’s elite have made their preferences clear is expected to make the contest a tough one.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

NO VOTE CAST IN 90 BOOTHS IN SRINAGAR LOK SABHA SEAT

As many as 90 polling booths mostly in downtown city, saw no voting in Thursday's elections to the Srinagar Parliamentary seat, sources said. The Srinagar constituency comprising eight assembly segments recorded zero turnout in as many as 50 polling booths. In the neighbouring Ganderbal district, which is a part of the Srinagar parliamentary seat, as many as 27 polling booths recorded no votes at the end of the polling. The same was the case with 13 booths of Budgam, which witnessed large scale violence in 2017 by-elections to the Lok Sabha seat. In Budgam area, Chadoora saw the lowest turnout at 9.2 per cent among the five assembly segments, while Chrar-e-Sharief recorded the highest at 31.1 per cent. The Srinagar constituency has 12,95,304 registered voters and 1,716 polling stations.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

MULAYAM, MAYAWATI SHARE STAGE. BSP CHIEF SAYS SP PATRIARCH NOT 'FAKE OBC LEADER' LIKE PM MODI

Ending decades-long rivalry, SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati Friday shared dais at an election rally with the BSP President describing the SP patron as a real leader of the backwards, unlike Prime Minister Narendra Modi whom she dubbed as farzi. The BSP leader, who had snapped all ties with the SP after the infamous state guest house incident in 1995, arrived at the Christian College ground to a rousing reception by surging crowds, comprising mainly of Samajwadi Party supporters in the party citadel. As a SP MLA bowed before the BSP president Mayawati touching her feet, the SP patron, who was the first one to speak, welcomed her and asked his supporters to always respect her. I and Mayawati are on the same dais after a long time, we welcome and thank her, Mulayam said. Mayawati defended her move to join hands with the SP and said sometimes in the interest of the party and people some difficult decisions have to be taken. I know people must be wondering why I have come here to campaign for Mulayam Singhji despite the State Guest House case sometimes in janhit and party movement some difficult decisions have to be taken, she said. There is no doubt that Mulayam Singh has taken members of all sections of society along with him under the SP banner he is the real leader, specially of backwards who still consider him as leader he is not a 'naqli' or 'farzi' backward (leader) like Narendra Modi, the BSP supremo said. The BSP president fumbled while ending the speech and raised the customary 'Jai Bhim' slogan of her party. However, she quickly added Jai Lohia'.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

SAM PITRODA TAKES A DIG AT BJP FOR TRUMPETING ON GUJARAT MODEL

Taking a dig at BJP's Gujarat model that was widely projected as a huge success in delivering both growth and development, Sam Pitroda said that the state has historically performed well on economic front because Gujaratis are entrepreneurial. He also pointed out that the state's performance and prosperity are not limited to a particular period. He also refuted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's allegation that Gujarat has suffered injustice during Congress rule. Gujarat has performed well because Gujaratis perform well. This holds true both in and outside the state. It is because of the Gujarati community's risk-taking attitude and entrepreneurial abilities, Pitroda told media persons on Thursday. This was true right from the time of right from the time of Jivraj Mehta's (Gujarat's first chief minister). We have seen this for all chief ministers, he said when asked to comment on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claims that Gujarat's economy was punctured during Congress rule. To substantiate his claims, he said that during his trip to Brazil about 50 years ago, he met a Gujarati working in a lab. He was an expert in fibre optics. Wonder how did he end up Brazil! It wasn't so well-known at that time, he said. Pitroda said that strengths of all states need to be harnessed for economic growth the welfare of masses and creation of jobs in huge numbers. India imports edible oil worth Rs 82,000 crore. Gujarat is known for peanuts. Why can't it produce oilseeds and oils for the rest of the country? The soil in Kutch is ideal for palm cultivation. If put to proper use, it can produce 10 million jobs, he said. Coming down heavily on Narendra Modi Pitroda said that most of the promises that were made ahead of last Lok Sabha elections have not been fulfilled. Where are 100 smart cities? What activity is going on in GIFT City? IL&FS (a partner in GIFT City project) has slipped into bankruptcy. Where are the jobs he had promised? In fact, small businesses are facing the brunt of demonetization and (faulty roll out of) GST, he said. Youth of the country are being misguided through false propaganda, they need to be told the real history of the country, said Sam Pitroda. He said that it was during Congress’ rule that the country achieved milestones in fields of agriculture, various industries, science and technology, space, defence among other areas. When we got independence, the population of the country was around 300 million. 77 per cent of them were poor. Now the population stands at around 2 billion, and only 20 per cent of them are poor. We could hold the country together, preserve democratic traditions, made developments in education, established scientific labs, he said. However, he lamented that today social media is spreading falsehood and those who oppose the government are threatened and tagged as ‘anti-national’.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

CHINA GEARS UP FOR NEXT SUMMIT MEETING WITH INDIA, APPEALS TO SHED OPPOSITION TO CPEC

China said Friday it was ready to hold a Wuhan-style summit meeting with India this year to improve the bilateral ties notwithstanding India’s reported decision to boycott its 2nd Belt and Road Forum to be held in Beijing next week to protest the sovereignty concerns over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Wang Yi made an impassioned appeal to India to shed its opposition to the USD 60 billion CPEC saying it no way undermined basic position on the Kashmir dispute. Asked if India’s reported decision to boycott the BRF would undermine the new momentum generated by last year’s informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Wang said the two leaders had a very successful meeting at Wuhan. Particularly they have established mutual trust between the leadership and they jointly planned for the future of improvement and strengthening of China-India relations. Representatives from over 150 countries and 90 international organisations’ close to 5000 participants have confirmed their participation. India’s Ambassador to China Vikram Misri told Chinese state-run Global Times last month that above all, connectivity initiatives must be pursued in a manner that respects sovereignty, equality and territorial integrity of nations. No country can participate in an initiative that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity.

__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

FOR ALL THE HATERS AND THE RADICAL LEFT DEMOCRATS, GAME OVER, SAYS TRUMP AFTER MUELLER REPORT RELEASED

Special Counsel Robert Mueller may not have found evidence of a criminal conspiracy between Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia, but his report details extensive contacts between the campaign and Russian operatives who sought to influence the election. Mueller said in his report released on Thursday that he found numerous links and that the Trump campaign expected it would benefit from Russia's effort to tilt the ballot in Trump's favour.Ultimately, Mueller determined the various contacts either didn't amount to criminal behaviour or would be difficult to prove in court, even if people in Trump's orbit sometimes displayed a willingness to accept Russian help, the report showed. Trump and his allies, who derided the Mueller probe as a political witch hunt, portrayed the report as vindication. No collusion. No obstruction. For all the haters and the radical left Democrats, game over, Trump tweeted on Thursday. The bottom line is the president is exonerated and the campaign is exonerated of collusion, said Michael Caputo. Some legal experts and political strategists were more circumspect, saying the report confirmed the Russian government was attempting to help Trump with the election. I think that's a pretty extraordinary finding of historical significance, whether or not there's a crime, said Matthew Jacobs. Many of the contacts in the report were already known. They included former national security adviser Michael Flynn's conversations in late 2016 with Sergei Kislyak, Russia ambassador at the time, and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's interactions with Konstantin Kilimnik, a political consultant who the FBI has determined has ties to Russian intelligence. But the report contained fresh details on the range of official and unofficial dealings Trump campaign advisers and supporters had with Russians before and after the 2016 election. For example, the report says that Manafort, shortly after he joined the campaign in the spring of 2016, directed his deputy to share internal polling data with Kilimnik with the understanding it would be passed on to Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch known to have close ties to the Kremlin. The report also says that Manafort told Kilimnik in August 2017 about the campaign's efforts to win the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Trump ended up winning three of those states in the November election. Mueller's investigation did not find a connection between Manafort's sharing of polling data and Russia's meddling in the U.S. election or that he otherwise coordinated with Russia.Frank Montoya, a former senior FBI official, said he was nonetheless bothered by the interactions between Manafort and Kilimnik, especially their talking about battleground states. As a longtime counterintelligence investigator it makes the hair stand on the back of my neck, Montoya said. Mueller's team considered whether the advisers violated laws barring election contributions from foreigners. But, the report says, they ultimately decided there was not enough evidence to show they wilfully broke the law and they might have had problems proving the information offered on Clinton was really valuable. When news of the Trump Tower meeting broke in July 2017, Trump Jr. issued a statement saying the meeting was set up to discuss adoption policy, not politics, before later admitting he had been expecting intelligence on Clinton. Such interactions have broadly been referred to by Democratic congressional investigators as examples of possible collusion. But because collusion is not a legal term, Mueller's team examined the Trump Tower meeting and other contacts through the lens of federal conspiracy law. Therefore, Mueller said his office did not charge any individual associated with the Trump Campaign with conspiracy to commit a federal offence arising from Russia contacts.

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




Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya