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Process unlikely to be a long drawn one, say officials India will amend the Avoidance of Double Tax agreement with Singapore soon. The negotiation process is unlikely to be a long drawn one, since it requires a simple modification, according to officials in the income tax (I-T) department. Indian officials are in the process of reaching out to the Singaporean authorities for the amendment. Singapore will likely get the same two-year transition benefit of 50 per cent capital gains tax like in the case of Mauritius. Limitation of Benefit is much higher in the case of Singapore, a threshold of Rs 50 lakh against Rs 27 lakh for Mauritius. The southeast Asian nation has emerged as the largest contributor of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the last financial year. For the nine-month period between April and December 2015, Singapore accounted for Rs 71,195 crore in FDI against Rs 39,506 crore through Mauritius. The changes to India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Convention last ...

The Centre is working on a new legislation to replace the existing Consumer Protection Act, which will have penal provisions of ? 50 lakh and five- year imprisonment for celebrities promoting sale of items without verifying the quality, Union Minister Ram vilas Paswan said on Tuesday. The proposed Consumer Protection Bill, 2016, has already been approved by the Parliamentary Standing Committee and would be introduced in Parliament in the next session, the food andconsumer affairs minister said. Business Standard New Delhi,18th May 2016

A new committee, led by formerMPand revenue and expenditure secretary N KSingh, will nowreview the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget ManagementAct( FRBM), and suggesta future road map. The government announced the formation of the five- member panel on Tuesday. The other members of the panel are Reserve Bankof India Deputy Governor Urjit Patel, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, formerfinance secretary Sumit Bose, and Rathin Roy, the directorof National Institute of Public Finance and Policy and aBusiness Standard columnist. Business Standard New Delhi,18th May 2016

www.caonline.in News... 1.NIRC of ICAI is organizing two days workshop on AS, IND AS & IFRS on 18 and 19 May 2016 from 5PM to 8.30 PM (followed by dinner) at ICAI Bhawan (Audi), Vishwas Nagar, Delhi. 2.Sale value u/s. 50C is to be adopted for deduction u/s. 54F. [ITO vs. Mr. Kondal Reddy Mandal Reddy (ITAT Hyderabad)]. 3.Notional consideration u/s. 50C eligible for deduction u/s. 54F. [ Gouli Mahadevappa vs. ITO (Karnataka HC)]. 4.HC directs Chief CIT to streamline appeal filing procedure. [The CIT vs. TCL India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. (Bombay HC)]. 5.MCA extended waiver of additional fees till 10.06.2016 for all forms with due date of filing between 25.03.2016 to 31.05.2016. Circular No. 06/2016 dated 16.05.2016. 6.Extension to 23.05.16 of last date to file DVAT-16, DVAT-17 & DVAT-48 for Q4 of 2015-16. Circular No. 5 of 2016-17. For more News Like us on https://www.facebook.com/caonlineofficial Or Subscribe on mail visit : www.caonline.in

Ministry not notifying out-of-bound forest areas for industry For Prakash Javadekar's environment ministry , Jairam Ramesh's gono-go policy is a no-go, at least for now.And that means some high-profilehighinvestment projects, currently held up be cause of possible forest area violations, may get a go-ahead. At least 10% of major pending projects, inclu . 24,000-crore Rio ding the ` Tinto diamond mining project in Madhya Pradesh, will benefit. So will around a third of the 800 coal blocks that can be developed. Officials familiar with the matter told ET that the Javadekar-run ministry will not notify the long-pending gono-go forest area categories. Now termed as violateinviolate, this classification was mooted by Jairam Ramesh, the environment minister in United Progressive Alliance, to keep some forest areas completely out of bounds for any commercial or mining activity .Under the National Democratic Alliance government, the policy was reviewed by a different committee an...

The government’s gold monetisation scheme hasn’t taken off, with banks yet to push it and slow process in certifying of collection centres and refineries. Hallmarking centres, refineries and banks have to sign tripartite agreements to get the scheme going. The finance ministry has so far held around 10 meetings on the scheme; changes have also been made to attract gold holdings from temple trusts, among others. However, the bulk of the countrys gold is with households and there is both a lack of enthusiasm and awareness on the scheme. Households and temples are together estimated to have 25,000 tonnes, of which 3,000- 4,000 tonnes are with temples. So far, only three or four tonnes is estimated to have been mobilised under the scheme, within six months of its operation. Sanjeev Agarwal, chief executive, Gitanjali Exports, says: “ Banks need to aggressively promote the scheme and the norms for allowing jewellers registered with BIS ( Bureau of Indian Standards) to participate ne...

Continuing his criticism of the judiciary for its “overreach”, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said it must draw its own " Lakshman rekha" as there cannot be a " compromise" with other aspects of the basic structure in the name of independence of the judiciary. Four days after Jaitley said in Parliament that “ Step by step, brick by brick, the edifice of India’s legislature is being destroyed” due to judicial activism, Jaitley said activism has to be blended with restraint. “Judicial review is legitimate domain of judiciary but then the Lakshman rekha has to be drawn by all the institutions themselves,” Jaitley said, asserting that “ the executive decisions are to be taken by the executive and not the judiciary”. Replying to questions during amedia interaction here, Jaitley said there are different kinds of recourse and " layers of accountability" available when the executive takes decisions and people have options of seeking changes in the...

Retirement fund body Employees Provident Fund Organisation ( EPFO) next month is likely to consider and approve a proposal to provide life insurance cover to its subscribers for three years after cessation of employment. “ EPFO trustees, in the meeting expected next month, will take up and consider the proposal to provide insurance cover under its Employees Deposit Linked Scheme ( EDLI) scheme to its subscribers for three years after losing job," a source said. “ The maximum sum assured under the EDLI will soon be enhanced to Rs. 6lakh this month," the source said. Business Standard New Delhi,17th May 2016

India’s current account deficit ( CAD) is likely to widen to 1.6 per cent of the gross domestic product ( GDP) this financial year, driven by pick- up in domestic demand on the back of a better monsoon and upcoming pay hikes, says a Nomura report. According to the global financial services major, the country’s domestic demand will pick up on the back of a better monsoon, 7th Pay Commission awards and the ongoing public capital expenditure plans. Business Standard New Delhi,17th May 2016

The government is hoping to move two legislative  initiatives in the monsoon session of Parliament , one to deal with bankruptcy offinancial firms and  the other for disputere solution of public - private partnership( PPP) projects, EconomicAffairs SecretaryShaktikanta Dastold Business Standard  on Monday. In an exclusive interaction, Dasalso said the  government has a strong case to maket oglobal  ratings agencies for an upgrade and that a  Monetary Policy Committee would be set up in  the first half of FY17. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced a number of planned legislative measures in his 2016- 17 Budget speech, including acomprehensive code for resolution of distress in financial firms and a Public Utility ( Resolution of Disputes) Bill to deal with PPP disputes. Business Standard New Delhi,17th May 2016

The Union power ministry is set to contribute to the National Democratic Alliance government’s Make in India, by working on a model of cheap power at fixed long- term rates for industry. This will not end cross- subsidisation for agriculture demand. Union Minister of State for Power, Coal & Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal told BusinessStandardthe effort was to have a back- to- back arrangement, where state- owned NTPC supplied power at a fixed price. The effort was to make power affordable, through reduced costs from higher plant utilisation. Currently, state governments encourage investment by giving subsidy and tax waivers but Goyal made a case for trying out a new model of giving low- cost power to attract industry. “ Give land and a 10- year power at fixed rate to industry.” There was, however, merit in continuing with subsidy to farmers. Goyal said private investment in the energy sector would come in transmission, mining development and operations in coal and in renewable...