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RBI/2016-17/249 DGBA.GAD.No. 2376/42.01.029/2016-17 March 16, 2017 All Agency Banks Dear Sir / Madam, Reporting and Accounting of Central Government Transactions of March 2017 Please refer to  Circular DGBA.GAD.No.2968/42.01.029/2015-16 dated March 17, 2016  advising the procedure to be followed for reporting and accounting of Central Government transactions (including CBDT, CBEC, departmentalised ministries and non-Civil Ministries) at the Receiving/Nodal/Focal Point branches of your bank for the Financial Year 2015-16. 2. The Government of India has decided that the date of closure of residual transactions for the month of March 2017 be fixed as April 10, 2017 for the Financial Year 2016-17. In view of the ensuing closing of government accounts for the financial year 2016-17, receiving branches including those not situated locally, should adopt special arrangements such as courier service etc., for passing on challans/scrolls etc., to the Nodal/Focal Point bran...

You would soon be able to use a major chunk of your retirement money to buy a house. The government will amend Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme to enable members of EPFO to withdraw up to 90 per cent of their fund for making down payments while buying homes. The provisions to withdraw money from EPF account always existed but there was a restriction on the amount a person could withdraw. A subscriber can get a loan worth 24 times the wages (basic salary plus dearness allowance). Financial advisors say that an individual should dip into the retirement corpus only if it's a first house, and the property is not bought for investment. Breaking retirement corpus should be the last resort for any one. An individual should do it only if he can contribute that money back into the PF in due course of time, say, by increasing contribution. Therefore, only look at the PF money if you have at least 15 years of service left, that is, if you are not over 43-45 years old. Instead of usin...

The Narendra Modi government is planning the next big round of foreign direct investment (FDI) liberalisation, which could have significant implications for several sectors, including print media and retail. Economic ministries are learnt to be working onaproposal to step up the FDI limit in print news media to 49 per cent, from the current cap of 26 per cent. Also, there are plans to allow singlebrand retail companies with up to 100 per cent FDI to go through the automatic clearance route. Adraft Cabinet note on phasing out the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is already in the making and could be ready for approval by the Union Cabinet by the end of April. FDI rules could be eased subsequently in some of the sectors. “Successive governments have done all they can in raising FDI limits across sectors. Further liberalisation can now happen through easing the rules governing approval routes,” saidasenior government official, aware of the interministerial deliberations. Prin...

Amendment empowers the Custodian of Enemy Property to sell such assets which wasn't permitted under the old Enemy Property Act, 1968 The passing of the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill 2016 by both houses of parliament paves the way for the government to monetise assets worth more than `1lakh crore, which will come as a nice cushion at a time when the government is looking at ways to control the fiscal deficit. The amendment now empowers the Custodian of Enemy Property (CEP) to sell such assets, which wasn't permitted under the old Enemy Property Act, 1968. The official, appointed under the 1968 Act, was entrusted with the custody, management and administration of assets deemed enemy property after the India-China war of 1962 and the wars with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. The authority, under the home ministry, can now sell these properties. Data provided in the report of the parliament select committee on the bill released in May last year reveals that there ...

All five Bills cleared, paving way for new indirect tax regime rollout from July 1 DILASHA SETH &INDIVJAL DHASMANA New Delhi, 16 March The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Thursday clearedaproposal to cap the cess on luxury cars and aerated drinks at 15 per cent over the peak rate of 28 per cent. The ceiling for the cess on “sin” goods would be much higher. An official said for paan masala, the cap would be 135 per cent. On tobacco and cigarettes, the cap would be 290 per cent, or Rs.4,170 per 1,000 cigarette sticks. Acall is yet to be taken on whether or notacess would be imposed on bidis. The cess on coal and lignite (environment cess) would have an upper limit at Rs.400 per tonne, the official said. However, the actual cess would be much lower —equal to the current indirect taxes on these goods. The cap would give headroom to the authorities to increase the cess in the future. After the meeting of the Council in New Delhi on Thursday, Union Finance Minister Arun...