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Properties worth Rs 14,000 crore under scanner of income tax department More than Rs 14,000 crore worth of properties have come under the scanner of the income tax department that launched a major offensive against tax evaders post demonetisation. On Thursday, the department released a detailed statement on this exercise. “The exercise has also unearthed a large number of persons and clusters having suspect transactions. These include about 14,000 properties of more than Rs 1 crore each where persons have not even filed income-tax returns. The investiga .. In the statement detailing the impact of demonetisation of oldRs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on black money, it said ‘Operation Clean Money’ was launched on January 31 to analyse data of people who deposited large sums of cash post the note-ban with no previous matching returns of income. As a result, an amount of Rs 15,496 crore was admitted as undisclosed income and surveys resulted in the seizure of Rs 13,920 crore, it said. Govern...

FM warns defaulters: Clear dues or give control to others Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Thursday issued a stern warning to big loan defaulters  responsible for a steep rise in the bad loans or non-performing assets of the public  sector banks. He warned them either to clear their dues or allow others to take control  of their companies. However the finance minister admitted that there is no short term solutions to the  problem of bad loans. Jaitley said: “You can’t have a surgical solution to it.” Rising NPAs or non performing assets of public sector banks have seen sharp rise in  recent years. The RBI has already recommended banks to initiate insolvency proceedings against 12 large  defaulters. As per an official reply given in the Rajya Sabha in the Monsoon session, the total  advances to corporate sector in 2017 were around 18 lakh crore rupees and nearly 15%  (14.83%) or 3.44 lakh crore rupees were declared as non perorming asset...

Indian govt finalising cyber security standards for mobile phones The Indian government is finalising cyber security standards for mobile phones, minister for law and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said at an ASSOCHAM event held in New Delhi today. “Let me tell all mobile manufacturing units that your product must be security-compliant, there shall be no compromise on that,” Prasad said while addressing an ASSOCHAM conference on Cyber and Network Security. The minister said that the IT and Electronics department already issued notice to most of the mobile companies manufacturing smart phones they were asked to furnish details related to cyber security. “I am very keen that cyber security initiative of India must become a lesson for the world.” Prasad informed said that cyber enabled security testing is going to become a big initiative in India. “We need low-cost cyber technology and low-cost well qualified cyber auditors.” According to him, in last three years 93 mobile manufacturing facto...

Sebi firm on tweaking investment advisory norms The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) may go ahead with tweaking its investment advisory guidelines for mutual fund (MF) distributors, even as it faces opposition from the latter. In June, the markets regulator had proposed changes to the Sebi (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013, to prevent conflict of interest between “advising” and “selling” of investment products by the same entity or person. As part of its proposals, an entity offering investment advisory services shall not be permitted to offer distribution/execution services. Banks, nonbanking financial companies and corporate bodies have to form separate subsidiaries to offer advisory services. Sebi had proposed to scrap the practice of using “independent financial advisors” by distributors. Instead, they would be called “mutual fund distributors” or MFDs, and will not be allowed to offer any investment advice or financial planning services. MFDs registering as ...

GST de stocking, costlier inputs hit growth: Anant Twin factors —destocking before the goods and services tax (GST) implementation andarise in wholesale inflation of inputs —pulled down economic growth during the first quarter of FY18, said Chief StatisticianTCAAnant on Thursday. The first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth touched the lowest in 13 quarters at 5.7 per cent, data showed.Anant, however, did not think that demonetisation should be linked to the slowdown in growth. Referring to agriculture growth coming down, the chief statistician said while crop production rose, animal husbandry weighed on growth. Deaccumulation of stocks by companies and traders in anticipation of the GST, which was implemented from July 1, explained the poor growth in the manufacturing sector, at 1.2 per cent compared toarobust 10.1 per cent in the corresponding quarter of last year, he said. “The major reason for growth coming in at 5.7 per cent is manufacturing, where the performance of ...

99% of banned notes returned after demonetisation: RBI annual report The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said it estimated that people had returned  almost 99 per cent of the scrapped Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes after demonetisation,  effectively putting a question mark over the government gaining handsomely by the  unreturned money turning into a special dividend by the central bank. In its annual report, the RBI also said the face value of fake high-value notes was  minuscule at Rs 41 crore. The central bank said people had returned Rs 15.28 lakh crore of the Rs 15.44 lakh banned  currency, or 98.96 per cent of the scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, to the banking  system. “Subject to future corrections based on the verification process when completed, the  estimated value of Specified Bank Notes received as on June 30, 2017, is Rs 15.28 lakh  crore,” the annual report said.  The old notes came to the RBI either directly...

Green light for 25% GST cess makes automakers see red Bigger sedans and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) will cost more now, as the Cabinet on  Wednesday cleared an ordinance to increase the cess ceiling on these vehicles to 25 per  cent from 15 per cent. This cess would be over and above the peak goods and services tax (GST) rate of 28 per  cent on these vehicles. Hybrid vehicles will continue to attract a cess of 15 per cent.   Announcing this decision, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the objective of any  taxation policy cannot be that luxury goods become cheaper and essential items become  costlier. “If at all relief is to be given, it has to be given to a common man’s item  rather than a luxury item. So a person who can afford Rs 1 crore for a vehicle can also  afford Rs 1.20 crore.” The exact increase in the cess will be taken up by the GST Council, which will meet on  September 9 in Hyderabad. It is widely speculated that a ...

Delisted firms to contest BSE order The promoters of at least two dozen of the 200 companies that have been compulsorily delisted by the BSE plan to file a writ petition against the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the stock exchange. Their contention is that they are under liquidation and therefore not liable to follow the delisting process, which entails payout to minority shareholders. Around 45 companies in the list of 200 are undergoing liquidation. These include Alpic Finance, Blue Bird, CFL Capital Financial Services, Dhanus Technologies, Koutons Retail India and DSQ Biotech. Official liquidators have been appointed to wind up the companies’ affairs and to sell-off assets. The assets are being used to pay shareholders followed by the claims of creditors. “BSE had gone ahead with compulsorily delisting without any prior approval from appellate tribunal. We have not been intimated about it, neither have we been given a chance of a hearing,” said the promot...

Defence ministry trims Army flab; 57,000 soldiers will shift to combat roles The Army currently deploys more soldiers on non-combat administrative and supply chain duties than in the trenches in wartime. On Wednesday, to increase what the defence ministry terms the Army’s teeth-to-tail ratio by putting a larger percentage of soldiers  on the frontline, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley ordered 65 reforms to the structure of the military. Improving the teeth-to-tail ratio involves whittling down administrative and logistic units that support combat operations, and redeploying the manpower thus saved into combat units. The defence ministry says the 65 reforms must be completed by December 31, 2019, involving “redeployment and restructuring of approximately 57,000 posts of soldiers and civilians.” These reforms are part of the 99 measures recommended by the Lieutenant General (Retired) D B Shekatkar Committee, which former defence minister Manohar Parrikar constituted in 2015. T...

GST, farm debt waivers likely to hit fiscal consolidation A day after the government released buoyant tax figures because of the goods and services  tax (GST), the Reserve Bank of India cast doubts over short-term revenue mobilisation.  Besides, farm debt waivers in some states could mar fiscal consolidation efforts there,  it said. This, the report said, could impact fiscal consolidation at both the Centre and  state levels, as this fundamental reform gains pan-India traction.  According to figures released by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday, the Centre and  state governments have earned Rs 92,283 crore from the GST in July, against a target of  Rs 91,000 crore. This  even as 36 per cent of assessees did not file returns. On Wednesday, the RBI warned: "Additionally, state government finances are likely to face  several challenges during 2017- 18. First, the announcement of farm loan waivers by four  state governments ...

Government may announce a new ‘outcome-oriented’ industrial policy by October Nirmala Sitharaman to hold consultations with stakeholders, including industry captains,  think tanks and states to finalise the policy. Government will announce the new industrial policy in October this year, seeking to make  India a manufacturing hub by promoting ‘Make in India’ and addressing the issue of slower  job creation. Commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold talks with stakeholders,  including industry captains, think tanks and state governments in Chennai, Guwahati and  Mumbai to finalise the policy. In a press statement, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said the  government wants to formulate “an outcome oriented actionable industrial policy that  provides direction and charts a course of action for a globally competitive Indian  industry which leverages skill, scale and technology.” DIPP has floated a disc...