ECONOMIC & LEGAL NEWS
PRESS
NOTE 18 TO BE SCRAPPED: The Prime Minister's Office
(PMO) is said to have cleared the scrapping of Press Note
18, an outdated provision which prevented foreign companies
already in an Indian joint venture from getting into other
100% owned ventures without the domestic partner's permission.
MALAYSIAN
COMPANIES TO PAY WITHHOLDING TAX: Malaysian companies
that were so far not paying withholding tax on income earned
in India from technical services will now be subject to the
levy, under the revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
(DTAA).
GOVT
OKAYS ORDINANCE TO REPEAL POTA: The Cabinet has okayed
an ordinance to repeal Pota, but decided to tone down the
definition of terrorism to be included in the amended version
of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
BPL
SUES AIG, ADB FOR BLOCKING DEALS: Rajeev Chandrasekhar
controlled BPL Communications has sued its foreign shareholders,
including American Insurance Group (AIG), Actis (formerly
CDC) and ADB, for $400m for loss of business opportunities.
CABINET
CLEARS NATIONAL TAX TRIBUNAL: Finance minister P Chidambaram
has moved a step closer to achieving the goal of speedy recovery
of tax arrears to bolster revenue collections and achieve
commitments enshrined in the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget
Management Act.
RBI
HIKES CRR TO 5%: The
Reserve Bank of India stepped in to do its bit towards reining
in inflation.
SUPREME
COURT UPHOLDS INTEREST PAYMENT: MNCs
like Hitachi Rhodia and Luxottica can heave a sigh of relief
from the recent SC ruling on payment of interest to investors
in takeover code violation cases.
US
LIFTS BAN ON NUKE EXPORTS : The United States in a
significant move agreed to lift export controls on equipment
for nuclear facilities in India after New Delhi assured it
would address American non-proliferation concerns.
BUSINESS
NEWS
EPCG
LICENSEES' EXPORT OBLIGATION CUT BY 40% : the export
obligation under the EPCG scheme, licence holders' burden
has come down by an average rate of 40%.
KERALA
GETS $30 M FOR NRI CITY: After helping to successfully
tie up a Rs 179-crore NRI township project in Bangalore, the
ministry for affairs of overseas Indians is now facilitating
a similar NRI city-in-city project in Kerala (near Coimbatore).
DUTY-FREE
IMPORTS FOR FARM GOODS EXPORTERS: The foreign trade
policy will allow to import capital goods under zero customs
duty - instead of the present 5% concessional duty - under
the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme.
OVERSEAS
PROXY PAYMENTS MADE BY FOREIGN FIRMS NOT TAXABLE HERE:
Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) has held that payments
made abroad by a foreign entity to another foreign company
on behalf of an Indian entity, is not taxable in India.
OUTSTANDING
MTM MARGINS TO ATTRACT 0.07% PENALTY: Sebi has introduced
stringent penalties at the rate of 0.07% for delays in mark-to-market
(MTM) margin payments by traders.
POLYESTER FIRMS SEEK
IMPORT DUTY CUT ON RAW MATERIALS: After series of
initiatives to lower the prices of petro products, steel and
edible oils, the finance ministry may now find it difficult
to defend the higher import duties on..
RELIANCE INFO TO RAISE
$1BN FOREIGN DEBT : Reliance Infocomm, the telecom
arm of the fabrics-to-oil Reliance group, is raising more
than $1bn via foreign loans to fund its expansion.
NEW
DEVELOPMENTS AND JOINT VENTURES
HUTCHISON'S
MERGER PLAN GETS DOT APPROVAL: DoT, which had earlier
objected to Hutch's plans to merge its four associate cellular
companies with itself, has now clarified that the FDI ceiling
of 49% is not being violated….
SAIL
TO MERGE IISCO WITH ITSELF: Steel Authority of India
(SAIL), has finally decided to merge its wholly owned arm,
the Burnpur-based Indian Iron and Steel (Iisco) with itself.
PHILIPS
COS TO MERGE INTO ONE : Electronics major Philips
is merging its three independent arms - Philips India Ltd.,
Philips Medical Systems and Philips Software System.
